By Peter Duru, Makurdi 

About 150 women in conflict-affected communities in Benue State are benefiting from a livelihood restoration initiative designed to strengthen public safety and rebuild hope.

The project, implemented by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from the Open Society Foundation, targets women in communities such as Naka in Gwer West  and Daudu in Guma Local Government Areas, LGAs of the state who lost homes, farmlands and sources of income due to violent attacks.

Addressing participants at a town hall meeting with beneficiaries and official flag-off of the Womenpowa Initiative in Makurdi, Executive Director of S4C, Mrs. Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri said the project was conceived as a direct response to the fear, displacement and economic hardship faced by women and young people.

“This is a public safety initiative. We are talking about safety especially for women, young people and communities that have been displaced as a result of violence. Many are living in fear, many have lost their livelihoods and access to their farmlands,” she said.

She stressed that livelihood restoration is the foundation upon which real safety is built. “Before you say communities are safe, what is being kept safe? Is it houses, livestock, barns? There must be something to protect. Safety does not operate in a vacuum,” she noted.

According to Ibezim-Ohaeri, the testimonies emerging from beneficiaries underscored the project’s impact. She explained that prior to the intervention, many women engaged in precarious activities such as gathering firewood in unsafe areas or hawking without stable income, while their daughters were left idle and vulnerable.

“One of the stories that touched me most was a woman who said when they fled their community, she often did not know where her daughters were. Now that she runs a shop, her daughters are constantly with her, helping to sell. She can account for them at any time. For her, that is safety,” she said.

She described the initiative as part of S4C’s broader transition from advocating social and economic rights to advancing social and economic justice. “For us, this public safety project is about justice. It is about restoring hope and making life meaningful again,” she added.

Programme Manager at the Open Society Foundation, Ms. Louise Ehlers, said the Benue initiative aligns with the foundation’s broader work on security and rights in Nigeria, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Kenya.

“Safety is not just about security and peace. It is about social, political and economic dimensions. If you are not economically safe and stable, you cannot truly be safe,” Ehlers said.

She noted that while efforts to strengthen formal security arrangements remain important, economic empowerment is indispensable in enabling people to live dignified lives.

Representing the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Thereza Ikwue, the Head of Women Empowerment, Ape Cheren, urged communities to foster environments that support both economic growth and safety. She assured participants of the ministry’s continued support for initiatives that uplift women.

Offering a traditional perspective, the Ter Tyoshin and Chairman of Gwer West Traditional Council, HRH Daniel Abomtse, said insecurity cannot be solved by force alone. “We cannot have safety only through the barrel of guns. Guns only multiply our pains,” he said.

He called for a deliberate shift in mindset and a more durable solution to insecurity, warning that empowering women without addressing broader threats could undermine progress. “If a woman is empowered but cannot move freely to earn a living, there lies another problem,” he cautioned.

Vice President of the Community Alliance Against Displacement (CAD), Mrs. Olabisi Williams, said women have also received training on basic safety strategies. “Most of their husbands have been killed, and they were chased from their homes and farms. We trained them to move in groups and use whistles to alert community members during attacks,” she said.

President of Lawyers Alert, Mr. Rommy Mom, emphasised the central role of women in stabilising families and communities. “Our tradition says the woman is the home. In Benue, you can only absorb shocks and function better if a woman is empowered. Safety means we are not afraid, we can go to farms, and commerce can thrive,” he said.

The Chairman of Gwer West Local Government Area, Mr. Victor Ormin, represented by Council Secretary Julius Iornyagh, commended S4C for the intervention and pledged the council’s full support to ensure its sustainability.

For one of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Zipporah Bem, a mother of four, the programme has brought renewed hope. She said her family bears witness to its impact and prayed for its continuity, as stakeholders collectively called for sustained efforts to transform vulnerable communities into safer and more resilient ones.