Insecurity: NEEM Foundation launches community led peace, reconciliation committee in Sokoto
BY ANKELI EMMANUEL,Sokoto
A non governmental organization (NGO) NEEM Foundation has in its Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism project established a community led peace and reconciliation committee in Sokoto State, North West Nigeria.
Recall that Sokoto is one of the states in the north affected by insecurity manifesting as banditry, kidnapping, farmers/ herders crises and other forms of crimes.
Addressing stakeholders at the launch of the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism (TSC) Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) tool at Sokoto Guest Inn recently, Aishat Ibrahim, the Programme Manager of Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism (TSC) project lamented that Nigeria is painfully grappling with diverse forms of challenges.
Ibrahim said that the most alarming of these challenges confronting Nigeria is insecurity.
According to her, the North Eastern axis of the country is facing the issue of Boko Haram, the southern axis of Nigeria is bitterly experiencing kidnapping and armed robbery while the North West and North Central are battling with banditry, kidnapping, herders/farmers clashes.
Pointing out why community based peace and conflict resolution is crucial to lasting peace, Ibrahim said violence and conflicts of whatever nature have negative effects on both active and non active actors as they disrupt social cohesion, increase mutual distrust and retard development.
She added that, to overcome some of these security challenges, aside setting up the community based peace and reconciliation committee, the Early Warning and Early Response (EWER) strategy should be deployed to elicit immediate response from different stakeholders.
Speaking earlier in her welcome address, the Sokoto State Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism (TSC) Programme Officer, Mrs. Abah Comfort said, the TSC project is aimed at building trust and increasing service provision in communities at risk of recruitment into violent extremism.
She also hinted that, TSC is poised to provide positive alternatives such as economic empowerment, capacity building, entrepreneurship skills training and livelihood support for vulnerable women and youths at the risk of radicalization.
Mrs Comfort further noted that the Community Peace and Reconciliation Committee will amongst other things help identify causes of local grievances, identify current gaps, organize focus group discussions to scrutinize early warnings and proffer early responses capable of mitigating whatever that might escalate to violence.
In his security counsel, Sokoto State Commissioner of Police (CP) Ali Kaigama represented by one of his Deputies, appealed to
communities to be vigilant and report threats themselves rather than waiting for the media.
CP Ali Hayatu Kaigama, who appealed for frantic engagement of traditional and religious leaders towards recovery of arms in the hands of wrong people, affirmed that, these respected leaders if genuinely engaged by the authorities will unearth so many things as they are the custodians of the people in their jurisdictions.
While appealing for the setting up of the Ministry of Traditional leaders, CP Ali Kagama also advocated the enlistment of representatives of all ethnic groups resident in any place into local vigilante groups to help boost intelligence gathering and sharing.
