Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has stated that the Federal Government is in negotiation with Saudi authorities over the ban on his entry into the country to perform Hajj.
Gumi said that he was denied entry into Saudi Arabia last week despite having a valid visa. According to him, he waited hours at Jeddah airport where officials informed him that he could no longer proceed for the pilgrimage.
No reason was explicitly provided for the move, he indicated, but he assumed it was political in nature. The move was “unfair,” Gumi stated, and Saudi authorities had no right to exclude a peaceful cleric from attending one of Islam’s core religious duties.
In talking to the media, Gumi clarified, “I did nothing wrong. I was treated like a criminal for reasons I still don’t understand. I was sent back without explanation.”
He added that the Nigerian government, through diplomatic missions, is already negotiating with Saudi Arabia on finding the reason why Gumi was banned and on ensuring that such an incidence will not happen again to Nigerian pilgrims.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says nothing about this, though reports indicate that consultations between the two governments are ongoing.
It is not the first time Gumi has been in the news. He has been in the spotlight in recent years, making headlines for negotiating with insurgents and bandits in Nigeria, calling for amnesty and dialogue. While he has had many who have stood by him, some have condemned him as being close to extremist groups.
Despite his controversies, Gumi calls his Hajj plans religious and personal. In his words, any Muslim regardless of what politics is, should be at liberty to travel to the holy land.
The incident has received responses on social media, with Nigerians demanding explanation from the Saudi government and better protection of citizens abroad by Nigerian authorities.
