Oyo abduction: Nobody can stop me from visiting Ibadan – Gumi fires back at critics

Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, says nobody has what it takes to prevent him from visiting Oyo State or any part of Nigeria.

Gumi said this on Tuesday in a post on his Facebook page, noting that his visit to Ibadan had been wrongly linked to what he described as “dirty local politics” in the South-West.

The cleric has faced criticism amid  allegations that his visit was part of an attempt to promote northern Islamic ideologies and Islamise Oyo State.

Responding, Gumi stated that he was not invited to Ibadan by any Muslim individual or group in the South-West.

According to the Islamic cleric, he attended an event in the city as a representative of northern Islamic scholars.

He said, “I quite understand now how Islamophobia is shaping politics in (South-West) and why I was unnecessarily dragged into their dirty local politics.

“I was in Ibadan, not by the invitation of any South-West Muslim individual or group, but as a representative of the Coalition of Northern Muslim Ulama.

“Can anybody stop me from going anywhere in Nigeria?”

His reaction followed controversy over claims that abductors of some victims in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State demanded the introduction of Sharia law in the state as part of the conditions for their release.