•Gumi claims assassination target

Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has claimed that he was informed he had been listed for elimination as a Boko Haram figure on the same morning a U.S. military air strike occurred in the country.

Gumi made the claim while addressing his congregation in a video that has gone viral and was posted by X user #General_Somto, yesterday. The cleric said he received an early-morning call from an unnamed source in Abuja who briefed him about a national security meeting.

According to him, the caller said his name was among those allegedly identified for assassination.“I received a call from a top official in Abuja informing me that I am among those marked by the U.S. for elimination through an American airstrike, as part of Boko Haram. Northern leaders and clerics must speak up against these lies, ” Gumi said. On December 25, the United States launched air strikes on members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Sokoto State.

MEANWHILE, troops across various Theatre of Operations recorded major gains over the weekend, recovering a large cache of 1,270 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition warheads, 13 pump action rifles and arresting 13 suspects.

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) recovered the cache of ammunition warheads in Bulumkutu Railway general area of Maiduguri, Borno State.

The Media Information Officer of the Joint Task Force, Lt.-Col. Sani Uba said the recovery followed a sustained follow-up action after a recent cordon-and-search operation.

Uba also said it was based on actionable intelligence aimed at denying criminal and terrorist elements freedom of action, particularly in the aftermath of multiple suicide bombers neutralised or apprehended within the past week.