Outrage Over Gumi: PFN Slams Cleric’s Claim That Middle Belt Christians “Fabricate Genocide”

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has issued a blistering rebuke against the controversial Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, following his recent claims that Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region are “staging funerals” and “burying empty coffins” to fabricate a narrative of genocide. The leading Christian body strongly condemned Gumi’s comments, labeling them “insensitive, irresponsible, and morally reprehensible.”

The cleric’s allegations, which surfaced recently, suggested a coordinated effort by Christian communities to mislead the public about the scale of violence and killings in the region. In a powerful counter-statement released on Saturday, the PFN’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Sylvanus Ukafia, titled the document, ‘Rebuttal of Ahmad Gumi’s false and dangerous claim.’ The PFN asserts that Gumi’s claim is not only “baseless and inflammatory” but fails to withstand even “the slightest scrutiny.” Dr. Ukafia pointed out the cultural absurdity of the claim, noting that funerals across all major Nigerian cultures—Christian, Muslim, and traditional—are deeply communal and identity-based rites, firmly “anchored on real names, real families, and real histories.” “The idea that entire communities are staging fake burials without a single whistleblower or inconsistency is not only illogical but deaply insulting,” the statement read. Furthermore, the PFN highlighted the total lack of verifiable evidence supporting Gumi’s explosive assertion. They noted that Gumi’s claim was based solely on an unnamed “doctor,” lacking any essential, corroborating details such as a name, location, photographic evidence, or timestamps. The PFN concluded that the allegation is nothing more than “hearsay masquerading as fact.” The organization’s forceful response aims to dismantle what it views as a deliberate attempt to trivialize the genuine security crisis and the loss of life suffered by communities in the Middle Belt, calling Gumi’s remarks a dangerous act of deflection.