Nigeria, Sept. 7 -- I approach national security and intelligence operations with deliberate caution. Revealing successes too early can compromise ongoing missions; failures narrated without context can sound like conspiracy theories. Allegations against individuals working at the sensitive intersection of intelligence, non-kinetic security strategy, and politics can inflict irreversible reputational damage - even when entirely fabricated.

That caution explains my initial reluctance to write on the recent viral video purporting to show "high profile bandit kingpins" on a visit to the residence of Senator Shehu Umar Buba of Bauchi South. But the scale of the circulation, and the pattern behind it, now demand public clarification.

I have ...