Plateau state pastoralists and farmers have reiterated commitment to work for peaceful coexistence in their various communities.
This was part of the resolutions reached at the end of 2-day training on Community Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP), organised by Mercy Corps, with support from USAID, on Interest Based Negotiation and Mediation for Local Leaders aimed at Mitigating Conflicts.
A pastoralist, Yaqub Saeed Ibrahim, of Mahanga in Barikin Ladi LGA, said the training has availed them another opportunity to meet and advance the cause of peace.
“What I have seen here is a kind of thing that will progress peace within communities living together, especially farmer and herders who are living in the villages, where there is insecurity,” he said.
A farmer, Mr. Vogan Bwode David, of Shanong village in Riyom LGA, said the programme is educative and timely, adding that it has made them to redouble their efforts towards peaceful coexistence.
“It is very timely. The programme is very educative and very enlightening. And if this programme continues, the conflict between farmers and herders will soon be a thing of the past.
“We are trained on how to intervene without bias. The Fulanis and Beroms should be having meetings jointly, if that happens, we will definitely live in peace,” he said.
The Mercy Corps deputy chief of party, Sani Suleiman Maigoro, said two key issues of the training was to see how communities can mediate and negotiate in a manner that they do no harm to their relationship.
He said: “How will they effectively communicate in a way that their interest will be clearly articulated and communicated to each other, so that farmers and herders can better understand what are the interests of one another, and how they can work together to address it.”
He stated that people only hear about the conflict that escalates into violence, adding “but people don’t get to hear the efforts that community people are doing to address many cases of conflicts, which if not addressed would also escalate.”
He said Mercy Corps is identifying those community level engagements so that it can be strengthened, rather than taking it to elites who only speak grammar.
Maigoro said besides the forty male participants, Mercy Corps will also be training forty women and another forty persons with disabilities.
