By Marie-Therese Nanlong

RATTLED by the series of killings and violence that have rocked the state, resulting in wanton destruction of lives and property, many stakeholders in Plateau State have adopted various measures to assuage the contending forces and bring lasting peace to the troubled state and its natives.

For instance, between January and July 2021, the Plateau Peace Building Agency has conducted over 34 mediation engagements at community levels in Miango, Kwall, Dusten Kura, and Gyelobari districts of Bassa LGA alone.

The State Governor, Simon Lalong, has also held meetings with the Plateau Inter-Religious Council and directed it to work with the Peace Building Agency to take urgent steps to defuse tensions in the state and unravel the immediate and remote causes of incessant conflicts with a view to nipping them in the bud. These efforts have been intensified in the wake of the recent violent killings in Jos North which claimed no fewer than 80 lives within one week.

The new strategy being deployed include building the capacity of people in people in the conflict zones to appreciate and adopt the imperatives of Alternative Dispute Resolution, ADR to address conflicts before they escalate to violence. The stakeholders, drawn from Ruboi in Bokkos Local Government Area, Murish in Mangu Local Government Area as well as Kachin-Tissan, Ruku, Zargwok and Nghar in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, were taken through a weeklong training facilitated by the Centre for Conflict Reconciliation and Documentation, CCRD, in Jos, the Plateau State capital. These communities bore the brunt of violent onslaughts between herders and farmers in recent weeks and months.

The Lead Facilitator of the ADR training, Redzie Jugo, pleaded with the stakeholders to live in peace with one another and to always adopt peaceful measures to settle their differences rather than allow conflicts to degenerate into violent confrontations. He also drew their attention to the period when the various ethnic nationalities in the state lived in peace and harmony and achieved prosperity irrespective of their tribe, religious and political leanings and how that should be maintained going forward.

Jugo reminded them that it is only a peaceful environment that would guarantee a prosperous future for the next generation and, therefore, pleaded with them to eschew all forms of violence and explore avenues for making peace with their neigbours at all times.

The lead facilitator called on the participants, who were also trained on early warning signals and early response mechanisms to pay attention to the skills in ADR, which he stressed have worked over time where they are effectively deployed, adding that even in their homes, they can use such skills to manage their families and the entire communities.

“It is important that we do not allow conflicts to escalate to violence, hence the need to ensure that some of the leaders in these areas have ADR training. We understand that some of the times, the use of traditional dispute resolution mechanisms like the police and the courts end in more rancour.

“We decided to train stakeholders, especially the traditional, youths, religious and women leaders in these communities to ensure that they deal with and resolve conflicts at the community levels using tested methods which have worked over the years. We hope they will take back and teach others what they have learnt. This training is useful even at domestic levels like families and communities.

They are equipped with skills to be able to deal with issues, especially as they relate to the farmer/herder conflicts before they escalate. They can also deploy the skills to deal with other conflicts that may arise as the result of ethnicity, religion or whatever.”

He, however, appealed to the state to “do the necessary once there are warning signals so that issues don’t escalate and result in loss of lives and property.”