A claim by a Twitter user had declared that popular Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi met with kidnappers of Kagara students in Tagina forest in Niger State, North-Central Nigeria.

"Here is Sheikh Abubakar Gumi meeting with kidnappers of Kagara students in Tagina Forest, Niger State. In a sane country people like Sheikh would have been jailed, but no.. Nigerian government is the government for terrorists only not for the Citizens," reads the tweet, complemented with a photo of Gumi speaking with some men.

The tweet has garnered more than 200 retweets.

Also, some major Nigerian newspapers have made same claim.

Armed men had on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, stormed a state-run school in Niger State and abducted at least 27 students - an act President Muhammadu Buhari condemned.

Alongside the 27 students, three staff members and 12 members of their family were also seized after the attack on Government Science Secondary School Kagara in the early hours of that day.

One student was killed during the abduction, a resident said according to CNN.

The abductees were later released on Saturday, 27th of February.

The accurate interpretation of the picture

Indeed, Sheikh Gumi met with some bandits in the forest of Tagina which adjoins Niger State and Kaduna State's Birnin Gwari Local Government Area on Thursday, February 18, 2021 (just a day after the abduction of the Kagara students). However, there is no evidence the bandits he met in the forest of Tagina on the said date were responsible for the abduction of the Kagara students.

In the forest of Tagina, Gumi met with Dogo Gide, a 'repentant' bandit leader who used to be one of the most notorious terrorist leaders in Northwestern Nigeria.

Gide was a bandit cum terrorist with known ties to ANSARU elements in the Northwest region that are linked with Al-Qaeda.

A post on the official Facebook page of Gumi - a former military officer - provided the update at the time.

Gumi's latest meeting with bandits came 15 days after the 60-year-old caught up with over 500 Zamfara State bandits, and urged them to repent.

Reacting to Gumi's peace message, Gide promised to key into the cleric's peace initiative.

Gide is believed to be at war with many armed groups in the Northwest because they refused to embrace the fragile peace process initiated by some state governors in the region.

Are bandits group leader, Dogo Gide and his fighters responsible for Kagara Students' kidnap?

Sheikh Gumi had in an interview with This Day Newspaper published on February 21, 2021, cleared the air regarding negotiating with the bandits he met in Tagina to release kidnapped Kagara students.

Gumi said that he only met the bandits to dissuade them from crime.

“I am not part of any negotiations. We just met some of these militants (in Niger State), trying to dissuade them from their militancy,” he was quoted as saying.

"For the (school) children, they said they didn’t know who did it because it was too early for them to know. Those groups we met may be having problems with a splinter group.

“The people I met with are not the ones who abducted the students,” the cleric said, but added that “the overall commander of the group we met promised that he would investigate those who abducted the children and get them released.”

READ ALSO: LIFE: Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, The Islamic Scholar, Ex-Military Man Who Is Making A Case For Bandits

Which bandit group is responsible for the Kagara kidnapping?

As of 28 February 2021, no criminal gang has claimed responsibility for the Government Science Secondary School Kagara attack.

There is no evidence the bandits Gumi met in the forest of Tagina on Thursday, February 18, 2021, were responsible for the abduction of the Kagara students.