Kaduna community leaders call for forgiveness

Village heads in Southern Kaduna have called for forgiveness and enthronement of justice in resolving the persistent conflict bedeviling the area.

The village heads made the call in their separate submissions on Monday at a sensitisation meeting organised by the Southern Kaduna Joint Peace Committee (SKJPC).

The meeting was held in collaboration with Nigeria Early Recovery Initiative (NERI), a unit of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which has been working to strengthen grassroots security in Southern Kaduna since 2020.

Malam Danladi Maigari, village Head of Fori, Kagoma Chiefdom, said lack of equity and justice was at the heart of the incessant herders-farmers conflict in the zone.

The village head of Bondong (Moro’a Chiefdom), Jonathan Mamman, said the only way for the persistent conflict to be resolved was for warring parties to genuinely forgive one another and embrace dialogue.

Earlier, the Co-chairman of SKJPC, Dr Ahmed Yandeh, said the meeting was convened to identify conflict triggers and chart a way forward as herders begin their southward seasonal movement.

Yandeh noted that the village heads are better placed to proffer solutions to the lingering problem as they were the closest to the people at the grassroots.

Also speaking, Mrs Omokide Chikodi, Programme Manager of NERI, enjoined the community leaders to embrace interest-based negotiations in resolving herders-farmers conflicts that may arise during the migration period.

“We have to understand that climate change issues regularly precipitate migration of pastoralists.