Killings: FG may engage Peace Corps for mediation

Indications have emerged that the Federal Government is considering the National Unity and Peace Corps, (NUPEC), (Nigerian Peace Corps in view) for official national assignment in the area of conflict resolution in Nigeria.

This is in furtherance of government’s search for an enduring peaceful resolution of crises in the country, which have resulted in loss of lives and property.

Presidency source that prefers anonymity had made it known on Friday that NUPEC which is a mediating corps, might be engaged by the Federal government for a full scale mediation of crises wherever any exists.

“This national assignment would be handled by Peace Corps under the leadership of Dr. Chinnedu Nneji, a Chattered Mediator and Commandant – General of Peace Corps (NUPEC),” said the source.

NUPEC is being considered “as a result of mediatory credentials, remarkable conflict resolution records as well as professional capability of the corps in the area of peace making and peace building in the country”, he remarked.

“There is no doubt that the security situation of the country is in disarray, which requires an urgent solution as massive killings and wanton destruction of property have become the order of the day, which is inimical to the growth of our democracy as well as development of the country.

“The questionable security apparatuses of the country, at present, seem to have exhausted all their powers without achieving much success in terms of protection of citizens and their property.

Everyone knows that the primary responsibilities of any responsible government is to protect its citizens from any form of attack and killings, any government which fails to meet up in the area of maintenance of security is already failed.

“This might have informed the decision of the Federal government to adopt another pragmatic approach of bringing about peace in the country via the mechanism of mediation as fire – arm approach is not really yielding the expected results.

This is not to create an impression that the existing security agencies as well as the army are not working, they do but use of ammunition to address crises is becoming an outdated practice.

“There is no gainsaying that the collaboration of the Peace Corps (NUPEC), with other paramilitary agencies will not only strengthen the security system of the country but will also engender a perfect synergy of crime control efforts that will launch an era of peace in Nigeria to the credit of the present administration led by President Muhammad Buhari who is known as a corruption crusader and a symbol of peace in Nigeria,” the source explained.

All efforts to reach out to the Commandant – General of Peace Corps (NUPEC), Dr Chinedu Nneji did not yield absolute success, but one of the top officers of the Corps, DCN Victoria Mark corroborated the statement that NUPEC would go for such a national assignment any moment from now.

She pointed out that NUPEC had been the only peace organisation in Nigeria, which had made indelible marks in the area of conflict resolution via mediating approach.

She cited a few examples of such efforts of the organisational intervention in conflict resolution through mediation technique which included NUPEC’s involvement in Umuleri/ Aguleri crises, Izilo – Ezza conflict in Ebonyi state, Farmers/ herdsmen clashes in some areas in Ogun state (Odeda area to be specific) as well as Ife/Modakeke skirmishes among others.

Another officer of the corps lent his voice to the new development by emphasising the enormous contributions of NUPEC in maintaining and sustaining peace in the country.

Officer Danladi pointed to various peace campaign programmes privately championed by the leadership of the corps, ” such programmes include “Operation Love Your Neighbor As Yourself” launched by the Corps boss, Chinedu PhD, in 2016, “Talk the Peace Project” launched in 2017

while a musical album containing peace lyrics in various languages was produced to make the Peace campaign far reaching besides radio and television jingles run for the purpose of peace building in the country.

All these efforts have, in one way or the other, impacted positively on positive interactions of Nigerian people” he noted.

It has to be stated, however, that if the federal government can inject another dose of peace effort, in this direction, to our security system in Nigeria, the country will definitely bounce back to the terrain of peace which she was known for in the past.

No country could meaningfully develop in the midst of violence and crises as we have been having such nasty experiences of violence in Nigeria right from Chief Olusegun Obasanjo government which launched the genesis of Boko Haram in Nigeria to Fulani herdsmen menace that has polarized the country into ethno religious dichotomy that has deepened our differences as a nation.

The mass killings of innocent people in Benue, Taraba and genocide of Plateau states in the recent time is an index with which the degeneration of our security system can be measured which at the same time called for security restructuring for better performance.