A veteran Nollywood actor, Imeh Bishop Umoh, popularly known as Okon, in a fiery Instagram post that has ignited social media, lambasted controversial Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmed Gumi as a “proven banditry apologist” and demanded his immediate arrest and prosecution for terrorism. The outspoken comedian’s open letter to President Bola Tinubu accuses Nigerian authorities of a “total lack of courage” in confronting what he sees as the cleric’s enabling role in the country’s rampant banditry crisis.
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Okon, whose comedic persona has made him a household name, did not mince words in his impassioned plea, shared on Instagram early Sunday. “Sheikh Gumi is a proven banditry apologist. It’s visible to the blind and audible to the deaf that there is a huge deficiency, if not a total lack of courage to arrest, investigate and subsequently prosecute and convict Sheikh Gumi if found culpable for terrorism,” he wrote, censoring the word to evade platform restrictions.
The actor invoked a hardline stance attributed to former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, quoting: “According to El-Rufai, the only repentant terrorist is a dead one and I totally agree. Kill them all! Save Nigeria!! No responsible government negotiates with terrorists!!!” He argued that political pressures from “sacred cows” should not deter action, emphasizing the human cost: “Let sacred cows be touched. Let heads roll. That’s not too much to ask for our roads and farmlands to be safe again, our communities livable, as well as our churches and sacred worship centers, safe like before.”
“Our country is near gone. Let’s save what’s remaining of these already existing ruins and restore her back to glory. Mr. President Sir, I know you can. I hope you will,” Okon concluded, tagging the post with hashtags like #SaveNigeria and #EndBanditry.
The outburst comes amid escalating bandit attacks in northern Nigeria, including a spate of kidnappings in Kaduna and Zamfara states last week that claimed dozens of lives and displaced hundreds. Sheikh Gumi, a retired Nigerian Army major and prominent Salafi cleric based in Kaduna, has long courted controversy for his engagements with bandit groups. In 2021, he led high-profile negotiations for the release of kidnapped students from Greenfield University, positioning himself as a mediator between the government and armed factions. Critics, including human rights activists, accuse him of romanticizing the criminals by describing them as “victims of injustice” and calling for amnesty, while supporters hail his efforts as pragmatic peace-building.
This is not the first time Gumi has faced calls for prosecution. Just weeks ago, on November 6, 2025, the cleric threatened to sue Lagos-based lawyer Deji Omirhobo after the latter penned an open letter demanding Gumi’s arrest for “consistent justification and defence of terrorists.” In a Punch Newspapers report, Gumi dismissed the accusations, stating, “I committed no crime engaging bandits,” and accused detractors of stoking religious tensions. Omirhobo, in turn, alleged Gumi’s actions amounted to aiding and abetting terrorism under Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
The Tinubu administration has yet to respond to Okon’s letter, but it arrives as security forces intensify operations against bandits under the revived “Operation Hadin Kai.” Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo recently vowed “no negotiations, only neutralization,” echoing El-Rufai’s rhetoric. However, with banditry linked to over 1,000 deaths in 2025 alone – per the Council on Foreign Relations – public patience is fraying, and calls for accountability are growing louder.
As Nigeria grapples with intertwined threats of insurgency, kidnapping, and ethnic strife, Okon Lagos’ clarion call underscores a broader demand: decisive action over dialogue. Whether it prompts a reckoning for figures like Gumi remains to be seen, but in the court of public opinion, the actor has already rendered a verdict.
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