In the bid to prevent attacks by armed groups on communities, which at a time became frequent in Taraba State, some localities have come up with the initiative of establishing their own defence militias.
This is to ensure security of lives and property, defend communities from attacks and to ward off external aggressors based on the presumption that having a standby group is the best way to send a strong message that the communities have capacity to defend themselves.
This is not peculiar to Taraba alone as other communities in other states are known to have adopted the same measures when faced with crisis situations they suspect are instigated from outside.
While the significance of vigilance in communities cannot be downplayed, the reliance on use of force has proven to have its demerits because, rather than douse tension; it engenders fear among the people and creates an impression of perpetual hostility making it difficult for mediation.
Rather than mitigate the level of insecurity, they began to add to the problem when the operations of the vigilantes subsequently defied communities’ control and became another source of violence.
This escalates tension in and around such communities adding to the general insecurity in the country and has often resulted in confrontation with security agencies and proliferation of armed groups.
It also accounts, at least in part, for the protraction of conflicts and deepening of intergroup suspicions which accordingly moulded narratives in rather incendiary terms.
It then became incumbent on stakeholders to search for more coordinated locally sourced and community based efforts that could stand the test of time.
Since the beginning of large-scale herder-farmer conflict at Agatu, Benue State in 2016 and its spread to other states of the Middle Belt Nigeria, Taraba has had her fair share of such violence which fortunately, ebbed in the last few months.
For instance, 12 Yandang villages in Lau LGA of Taraba State suffered heavy attacks around 2017 and 2018 and their inhabitants displaced and became IDPs in other parts of the state, especially, Jalingo, Zing, Yorro and Ardo Kola LGAs.
Some of the communities began to appreciate the fact that in finding lasting solutions to these conflicts arming groups is hardly the solution.
Depredations of luxuriant crop farms have, in many cases, been the most immediate trigger of violent clashes. One would suggest they can effectively be handled by the communities without allowing them to degenerate into violent conflicts.
Hence, all hands must be on deck to involve all members of the community in working out the processes.
These include the politicians, traditional rulers, community groups, religious leaders, magistrates, judges, civil society organisations (CSOs), business leaders, market unions, youth leaders, land management officers at state and LG levels.
I believe these are key players in the contour of societal peace and conflict and are thus instrumental to conflict management and should be engaged in the drive towards preventing these conflicts because they are able to identify early warnings and take necessary actions before they escalate to violent clashes.
Since such people suffer the consequences of any breakdown of law and order or directly, they tend to be deeply committed to seeing they do not reoccur.
Also, federal, state policies must be coordinated towards the limitation of the opportunities and incentives for escalating conflict while allowing people to work out their solutions.
This involves sensitisation of members of communities on the need to eschew violence, taking organised groups to relay such information to people, assigning definite roles to the women and engaging the youth in productive activities..
Getting religious organisations to use their platforms to educate adherents on the need for peaceful coexistence and harmonious living is very important.
The youths should be made to interact with members of other communities through activities such as football tournaments, meetings and workshops to get to understand one another.
Traditional rulers working with the political authorities should de-emphasise claims that their communities are targeted through open visits and collaboration with others.
Citizens’ trust can be sustained if the other communities are involved in identifying culprits and allowed to play major roles in resolving the disputes.
As these are done, security agencies should be allowed to play their roles of providing protection to communities.
It is the occurrence of such attacks that engenders the feeling of victimhood and sparks off the urge for vengeance which increases tension and divides.
Security agencies by their disposition are trained to ward off attacks by extremist and criminal groups
This will check further infiltration of communities and ensure sustainable peace.
Bami-Yuno, a conflict management expert, sent this piece from Jalingo.
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