Gumi’s ‘staged funerals’ remarks insensitive, irresponsible – PFN
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By Dapo Akinrefon
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, on Saturday, faulted the remarks made by Islamic cleric, Sheik Ahmad Gumi that Christians in the Middle Belt were staging funerals to fabricate genocide.
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The PFN described Gumi’s comments as not only insensitive, irresponsible, but morally reprehensible.
Recall that Gumi had alleged that Christians in the Middle Belt were burying empty coffins to fabricate a narrative of genocide.
However, the Christian body, in a statement titled ‘Rebuttal of Ahmad Gumi’s false and dangerous claim’ by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr Sylvanus Ukafia, said Gumi’s claim was baseless, inflammatory, and collapses under the slightest scrutiny.
The statement reads: “We strongly condemn the recent statement by Ahmad Gumi alleging that Christians in the Middle Belt are “burying empty coffins” to fabricate a narrative of genocide.
“This claim is baseless, inflammatory, and collapses under the slightest scrutiny.
“Across Nigerian cultures — Christian, Muslim, and traditional — there is no practice of burying empty coffins.
“Funerals are communal, identity-based rites 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 deeply insulting.
“Gumi’s allegation rests entirely on an unnamed ‘doctor’ without any verifiable details: no name, no location, no evidence, no photos, no timestamps. This is hearsay masquerading as fact.
“If such mass staging truly occurred, who dug the graves? Who carried the coffins? Who filmed the events? Why has no participant, villager, or bystander ever come forward?
“Public burials cannot be faked without multiple witnesses. Gumi presents not a single shred of proof.
“His claim also contradicts itself: Nigeria has witnessed thousands of real victims of terrorism and banditry. There is no need for anyone to “invent” casualties.
“The tragedy is already well documented by humanitarian groups, international observers, satellite images, and media reports.
“This statement fits a disturbing pattern in which Gumi routinely downplays or denies targeted killings of Christians, and now seeks to delegitimise genuine suffering with a dangerous narrative timed to counter rising global concern, including condemnations by U.S. lawmakers.
“This is not analysis. It is propaganda.
“Such misinformation trivialises real loss, fuels division, and distracts from ongoing violence. To suggest that grieving communities are staging funerals is insensitive, irresponsible, and morally reprehensible.
“We call for restraint, truthfulness, and compassion in public commentary, especially on matters involving human lives and national security.”
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