NGO hands over community conflict management platforms to 3 Yobe LGAs
A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), North East Youth Initiative for Development (NEYIF), has handed over three conflict resolution platforms to selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Yobe State.
The programme was funded by the European Union through British Councils Managing Conflicts in Northern Nigeria (MCN).
The platforms were established in 2018 with 25 participants drawn from various government agencies including Local Government Areas, Security Agencies such as the Police, Army, NSCDC, and DSS; Community Stakeholders such as the Market Women Association, Youth Associations, People Living with Disability, Traditional and Religious Institutions vigilante and hunters groups.
Independent Newspaper reports that the platforms hope to strengthen early warning and response systems and enhance community security and safety in Geidam, Gujba, and Gulani LGAs of Yobe State.
The representative of the Executive Director of NEYIF, Mijinyawa Ali, said they had recorded successes in the cases of stigmatisation of repentant Boko Haram members & liberated captives and got them incorporated into the community.
He said the initiative successfully resolved concern over the eviction of a woman from her home on grounds of witchcraft and successfully relocated Magistrate Court from Garin Alkali to Geidam.
Others are resolving concerns about the suspected supply of cooked food to insurgents by food vendors, addressing issues involving misuse of power by vigilante groups to cause conflict.
Ali said the initiative successfully re-enforce monthly sanitation exercise in Geidam LGA, addresses issues on increase in maternal mortality in Gulani LGA, and addresses issues of drug abuse and farmers/herders conflict that had been common in almost all the Local Government Areas in the state.
Speaking further, the NEYIF Executive Director said the overall objective of the MCN programme is to enhance conflict management at the state and community level and to prevent the escalation of conflict into violence in selected locations in the North East.
He said the project aims to mitigate any form of issue that is considered to have the potential of triggering violence as well as strengthening the proactive measures designed to avert conflicts towards fostering peace, stability, and resilience among selected communities.
While handing over the platforms to the respective Local Government Areas, the representative of the Executive Director called on the councils to support the CPSP platform so that it can continue the good work it has been doing for the past 4years.
Responding, the council leaders appreciated the European Union and British Council Managing Conflict in North East Nigeria (MCN) for founding the platform and the implementing partner North East Youth Initiative for Development (NEYIF) for their commitment and dedication towards making the programme successful.
They pledged to keep sustaining the project, stating that the programme had yielded a positive result.
