Mala made the plea in an  interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Yola.

According to him, the ex-insurgents were mostly forced to join the group against their wishes.

”My special appeal to communities of Boko Haram is for them to forgive and avoid rejecting the ex-combatants.

”If we do not accept them, there is every tendency that they may go back to join the rank of Boko Haram and that will clearly show that the perpetrators will now become the victims of the conflict.

”Evidence has shown even in ‘Operation Safe Corridor’ screening process that some of them were forcefully conscripted to join the sect.

”And when they get a way to escape, or be liberated  by the  military, they find their ways into the communities and undergo the rehabilitation and radicalisation process in Gombe State,” he said.

According to him, the ex-combatants have been fully rehabilitated by the military and other stakeholders and they will contribute positively to the development of their respective communities and the country at large.

He said that the Boko Haram insurgency had nothing to do with any religious ideology, as evidence had shown.

”Evidence has shown that they are using religion as a screen to boost their own interests, but truth of the matter is that Boko Haram has gone beyond ideological inclination.

”It is just a social movement that believes in violence and terror on innocent people, there is no  clear evidence they have link to any religion ideology,” he said