Kaduna-based cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said that negotiating with terrorists is a global practice and that neither the Quran nor the Bible opposes it.

Mr Gumi, a self-appointed advocate for bandits, in an interview with the BBC published on Tuesday, dismissed the idea that the government should not negotiate with terrorists.

“When they say we should not negotiate with terror, that word, I don’t know where they get it from. It is not in the Bible. It is not in the Quran. It is not even in practice,” Mr Gumi said.

The cleric maintained that he will continue to champion calls for negotiation with terrorists if it will stop bloodshed. He noted that the American government negotiated with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“We negotiate for peace and our strategic interests. If negotiation will bring a stoppage of bloodshed, we’ll do it,” Mr Gumi said.

He added, “In fact, everybody is negotiating with bandits. America had an office where they were negotiating with the Taliban in Qatar. Everybody is negotiating with outlaws, non-state actors. So where do they get that knowledge from?”

The Kaduna-based cleric has often kicked against the Nigerian government flushing out bandits who have been killing and abducting people in hundreds, advocating for dialogue with bandits.

Mr Gumi had described bandits as reasonable people and once said it is Islamic to seek peace with bandits. He also called for amnesty for bandits like the Niger Delta militants.

However, bandits have continued to kill and kidnap en masse for ransom across Zamfara, Sokoto, Yobe, Katsina, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, and Kaduna States.

Past dialogue and peace deals reached with bandits by state governors have failed to yield significant results in the affected states.