Kaduna-based cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, says terrorists maiming, killing, and kidnapping innocent people for ransom are “listening and reasonable human beings” who should be pacified and not eliminated by force.

“Myself, I’ve been trying to see how we can pacify these people (terrorists) and redirect them because they are human beings. They listen and reason, but if you say you want to use force against force, then you will compound the problem and make the thing dirty,” Mr Gumi said in an interview with VOP TV.

The Islamic cleric, who advocates amnesty for bandits wreaking havoc in the country, said the U.S. army could not defeat terrorists and bandits terrorising Nigeria because they have failed to do so in Afghanistan and Syria.

“If they (the U.S. army) can cure and eliminate the terrorists, I will welcome them. But I know they cannot. They have fought for 20 years in Afghanistan, but they could not finish them. In Syria now, it is the same thing,” Mr Gumi reasoned.

The Islamic cleric added, “These terrorists you see, it is not easy to come and drop bombs here and there and think you will finish them, because they have infiltrated the society. It is going to cause more damage. More Muslims and Christians will be killed if America drops a bomb in Nigeria.”

Mr Gumi’s statement humanising terrorists and bandits comes in the wake of Mr Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern over alleged Christian genocide and threat to invade Nigeria to eliminate terrorists killing Christians.

Boko Haram terrorists have killed hundreds of thousands of people, kidnapping hundreds of schoolchildren and displacing close to three million people over a decade of terror in the North-East.

The terrorist group gained global notoriety with the kidnapping of about 276 schoolgirls in the Chibok community of Borno, sparking global outrage in 2014.