Definitely, Sheik Gumi visited those bandits upon the leave of the federal government and with a deal from the Ministry of Defence. It was all arranged and such things are more common in conflict situations than most people realise. Even in the most vicious wars, channels for dialogue are always left open. There is nothing wrong with his going to see if there can be avenue for a peaceful settlement, even though I don't believe analysts in the MoD would have believed such peace is achievable. All the same, people come to a point where they want to try anything . . .A military intelligence operative or two would also have been embedded in his team and they will look completely ordinary to any observer. They will be trained observers and listeners. You can appreciate why they'll do all that. This is how militaries work and they are so ordinarily issues in conflicts.

However, with the statement from Gumi accusing Christians to the bandits, the federal government ought to quickly disown him and cut off all assistance to him. He has shown himself to be extremely dangerous to the cohesion of the armed forces and the nation. Personally I thought of him as much more open minded especially when he was out along with OBJ and Bishop David Oyedepo in 2019 lobbying for the election of Goodluck Jonathan. To have told these bandits that it was Christian troops who attacked them is an extraordinary page in his books, some of the chapters of which could contain outright and bloodcurdlingly divisive strategies. He should be stopped in his tracks and the federal government has to say a word or two about his actions.

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