Nigeria, Nov. 15 -- In the great city of Kaduna, Northern Nigeria's political capital, there is a man who, though trained as a doctor, is better known as a Sheikh. He hails from a long line of Islamic scholars, and his father was even a Grand Khadi. He preaches from the pulpit, prays with the pious, and to the faithful, he appears a voice of reason. He wears rich, flowing robes whiter than snow. Yet, when the echoes of terror rose from the forests, it was his own voice that answered, not in condemnation, but in defense. Beneath the measured cadence of his sermons lies a perilous affection for men whose hands drip with rivers of cold blood.

He claims to follow the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), but his loyalty is not to the divine; it ...