Prominent Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has called for patience with Nigeria’s security agencies, arguing that no government can eliminate crime overnight.

Speaking at a lecture at the University of Ibadan, Gumi cited improvements such as safer highways as evidence of progress, noting that even advanced nations like the United States grapple with terrorism.

Under heavy police protection, Gumi told attendees: “Things are improving; even America has terrorism. Nigerians should be patient.” He pointed to the Abuja–Kaduna highway, once notorious for bandit attacks, as now safer due to sustained military operations.

His remarks came days after the November 18 attack on Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, where gunmen killed three worshippers, including a vice-principal, and abducted 38 others. All hostages were rescued by November 23 in a coordinated security operation.

Gumi suggested that recent mass school kidnappings in Kebbi and Niger States may be “engineered” to fuel narratives of Christian genocide and invite foreign intervention, echoing U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of military action over alleged persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

The cleric, long criticized as a bandit apologist for advocating negotiations with armed groups, warned against exploiting religious tensions to target northern Nigeria’s mineral resources, including lithium and cobalt. His comments drew sharp backlash from actor Imeh Bishop Umoh (Okon Lagos), who demanded his prosecution for alleged terrorism links, calling him a “proven banditry apologist.”

The lecture, part of a UI academic series, highlighted the country’s deepening North–South divide amid a surge in violence in 2025.