News
Institute For Peace And Conflict Resolution, Adopts ICT Applications To Curb Crimes, Violence In Nasarawa Sate
By Tambaya Julius
In a Spirit to combact crimes and violence in Nasarawa State, the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution has initiated and adopted information and communication technological related applications to monitor indicators of conflict with the view to curbing and containing crises at the formative stage in the country.
Sequel to this, the initiative which is to enhance Early Warning Early Response EWER is being implemented by the Peace Action for Rapid Transformative Nigerian Early Response (PARTNER) and sponsored by USAID and other project consortium to include West Africa Network for Peacebuilding WANEP, Plateau Peacebuilding Agency PPBA, Kaduna State Peace Commission KSPC, Mercy Corps Nigeria among others.
The Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution is currently implementing its technology driven conflict Early Warning Response system (CEWERS) with integrated community peace infrastructures and early warning response components in North Central and North west; nine states and 49 communities to enhance effective conflict prevention.
In Nasarawa state, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution is working with five established components to include Early Waring Monitoring and Reporting group, Community Based Reconciliation Committees, Conflict Early Warning Indicator Monitors, Gender Focal Persons, Early Warning Response Group which are drawn from the conventional and non-conventional security agencies as well as the non-security response organizations.
To enhance the effectiveness of these components and strengthen the capacity of officers on the use ICT devices and the newly developed, Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution and its partners organized a symposium to equip the stakeholders on the workings of the ICT relate applications aimed at identifying conflict indicators; reporting conflicts and responding to them.
Declaring open the workshop in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital, the Director General of the Institute, Dr, Joseph Ochogwu said the initiative is “created to bridge the gap between early warning and early response in Nigeria” adding that “in many instances, early warning reports and information are not responded to, or sometimes the response comes too late to prevent violence”
He said “in some occasions, citizens do not know which security agencies to send early warning information” a development that “inspired the establishment of the Peace Structure at the national and selected states” to close the gap.
“The IPCR and PARTNER realized the significance of the security agencies and other critical non-security stakeholders in playing a strategic role in the intervention, coordination and collaboration in accelerating response to conflict at the national, state and community levels.
“Without an effective and efficient response, every early warning will be meaningless. That is why your cooperation as members of the EWRG and EWMRG is highly solicited and your conduct as response stakeholders very instructive with other peace structures towards effective response, confidence building, conflict prevention and mitigation.
“To achieve a robust, effective, and coordinated response to early warning, the IPCR and PARTNER have adopted the use of technology to enhance our conflict prevention strategy” said, Dr Ochogwu.
In a series of presentation, coordinator of PARTNER Projects in the Institute, Steve Agbo said IPCR is in Lafia to train stakeholders on “how to use the digital instruments like the early warning application that have been developed and the toll-free lines that have been acquired as well as the SMS platform integrated with the early warning application to both report and conduct response.”
Agbo said “our focus is to ensure that there’s a coordination of the various early warning stakeholders from the community to the state level and of course those early warning response group at the state level are to coordinate and interface with the national early warning response group that have been established to enhance overall effectiveness of early warning system in Nigeria so we can achieve a sustainable peace in the country through effective conflict prevention”
On the institute’s expectation, the coordinator of PARTNER Projects at IPCR, Steve Agbo noted that “we want them to now effectively, having understood what these indicators are, and of course specific indicators with respect to Nasarawa state, to begin to send more of these conflict indicator reports to the situation room to ensure that we lower the level of violence and crime in Nasarawa state.”
The PARTNER project which has a span of five years is now in the third year and it has expanded to the tier two states made up of Nasarawa, Benue, Kano and Katsina respectively.
General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, has assured that all security challenges facing the nation will be effectively addressed by the year’s end.
This statement was made during the launch of attack drones and the demonstration of locally produced bombs, developed by a homegrown technology firm.
The event was attended by security specialists and senior government officials, as General Musa showcased the indigenous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to the audience.
Accompanied by Ajao Adewale, the Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, and Caleb Mutfwang, the Governor of Plateau State, General Musa emphasized the ongoing bureaucratic obstacles in acquiring military equipment from abroad.
Governor Mutfwang stressed the urgency for decisive measures against insecurity, calling on leaders to prevent any entity within the nation from possessing military capabilities.
The operational features of the UAVs were also demonstrated, with General Musa expressing satisfaction with this advancement, labeling it a pivotal step in combating insecurity in the country.
A coalition of youth organisations has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to reconsider its wanted tag on socialite, Dr Aisha Sulaiman Achimugu, OFR.
The organisations, Niger Delta Youth Council for Good Governance and Middle Belt Youth Stakeholders’ Initiative said this in a joint press statement they issued on Thursday in Abuja.
According to them, the declaration of Achimugu wanted by the anti-corruption agency came to them as a rude shock.
The joint statement was signed by Comrade Emma Niboro and Ali Ameh for Niger Delta Youth Council for Good Governance and Middle Belt Youth Stakeholders’ Initiative, respectively.
They described Achimugu as a dedicated friend of the youths, who had always shown commitment to the welfare and care of the downtrodden.
According to the youth coalition, “we know the Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, as a man who came with utmost zeal to sanitize the agency. He has already demonstrated this and we are proud of his achievements so far.
“However, we urge him to resist pressure from politicians, which is a plague that has dwarfed EFCC for several years of its existence.
“The commission had hitherto remained a tool for politicians to undue their perceived political foes and this has always rubbed off on the credibility of the agency.
“The case of Achumugu doesn’t appear to be different in any way, as the haste with which she was declared wanted showed there is a hand of Esau and voice of Jacob.
“Our appeal is that the commission should withdraw the wanted tag on her and give her ample time to report to the commission, as she has never been indicted of any offence whether in Nigeria or outside the country.”
While noting that Achimugu is a global figure, they added that they can always vouch for her integrity.
“We know her, she has always been of immense help to the youths and other members of the society.
“Her closeness to certain politicians should not be used as a tool to persecute or harass her,” the youths further stated.
The Supreme Court has overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision that recognised Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP). In a decisive ruling, a five-member panel declared that the Court of Appeal lacked the legal authority to determine the party’s leadership matters.
In a unanimous verdict, the highest court in the land stated that the Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction over the matter. The panel observed that since the case revolved around the internal leadership structure of the Labour Party, it fell outside the jurisdiction of the courts.
The ruling reinforced the long-standing principle that leadership disputes within political parties should be resolved internally, rather than through judicial intervention.
The Supreme Court stressed that leadership struggles within political parties are purely internal matters. According to legal principles, courts should not interfere in such issues, as they fall under the party’s constitution and governance framework. By upholding this legal doctrine, the apex court reaffirmed that political parties must settle their leadership crises independently.
The Supreme Court upheld the appeal lodged by Senator Nenadi Usman and a fellow appellant, ruling that their claims were valid. Their appeal challenged the earlier judgment, arguing that it was flawed due to jurisdictional overreach. After thorough legal scrutiny, the Supreme Court found merit in their argument and ruled in their favour.
The legal battle also involved a cross-appeal filed by supporters of Julius Abure, who sought to challenge the decision against their leader. However, the Supreme Court dismissed this cross-appeal, declaring it unsubstantiated and lacking merit. The ruling effectively ended the legal contest over the Labour Party’s chairmanship, cementing the judiciary’s stance on non-interference in party leadership disputes.