From Jos.
An NGO,the Pastoral Resolve (PARE), has enjoined community leaders in Bassa Local Government of Plateau of Plateau state to sensitise the residents in the area to imbibe the spirit and importance of living in peace.
The organisation made the plea on Monday in Jos during the inauguration of a conflict prevention forum organised by it as part of efforts at promoting peace in Plateau.
The organisation said Bassa Local Government Area had been identified for a comprehensive conflict prevention advocacy to ensure peaceful coexistence among Fulani, Irigwe and Rukuba communities of the local government.
The Programme Manager of the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP), the platform for the forum, Mr Muhammad-Munji Sanusi, said that CIPP had been a useful instrument of PARE for sustaining and harmonious coexistence among communities.
He said that the plan of the initiative was to target the community and religious leaders and establish the causes of incessant violence in the communities after the organisation had earlier engage the community members on the same issue.
According to him, the activities of the organisation are visible in Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Bassa and Bokkos local government areas of Plateau, soliciting peaceful coexistence among diverse ethnic groups by organising fora and sensitisation programmes.
“We are here today to engage various leaders to educate them, listen to their complaints through dialogue and find a common ground to make action plans,’’ he said.
PARE Senior Project Field Officer for CIPP in Plateau State, Jemila-Kwalzoom Abdul also said that since the outbreak of violence in Bassa communities, the organisation had begun a field work on how to ensure peaceful coexistence in the communities.
“CIPP seeks to mitigate the crises between herders and farmers; to hear the real causes of the crises in a confidential manner.
“The organisation had spoken with community members separately so that they could feel free to state the real issues without the fear with the aim of mitigating the conflict.
“The community and religious leaders are now here to tell themselves what their feelings are and at the end; it is expected that peace will reign in the communities.
According to her, CIPP is presently working in Kogi, Plateau, Kano State, Kaduna State and Benue, promoting peace and harmonious living among various ethnic groups.
One of the traditional leaders in the event, Chief Danladi Akinga Kasuwa, the Ogoma Aima Gurum of Mista-Ali, noted that security ought to be everybody’s business.
“For instance, in the event of crisis, we in our community will organise Muslim youths to secure churches and Christian youths to secure mosques and the community leaders will supervise,’’ he said.
Similarly, a community leader in Rukuba, Mr Danlami Agun, appealed to other leaders to let peace reign in the communities for development.
The District Head of Miango, Chief Daniel Chega, noted that the initiative had provided solution in sight to the end of crisis in the communities.
He admitted that Plateau “needs peace more than ever before for the state to grow; because no community can grow without living with other ethnic groups’’.
The representative of the Fulani community, Alhaji Yau Idris, argued that there ought not to be crisis among Irigwe and Fulani communities, if there had been understanding of some issues.
He solicited the synergy between the vigilantes of the Fulani and Irigwe,to identify criminal elements in the communities and deal with them.
Miss Peace Yakubu, a representative of women from the Irigwe community, expressed the hope that through dialogue and advocacy such as the one being handled by PARE-CIPP, peace will be restored in Plateau communities.
The highpoint of the event was a drama presentation among Fulani-Irigwe-Rukuba communities, on how to coexist peacefully in a community.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
