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From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
The British High Commission has urged that all hands be on deck to end the conflicts and ensure lasting peace in Benue and Nigeria at large.
Representative of the Commission Grant Morris stated this at a Stakeholders Peace Dialogue Meeting organised by the African City of Refuge and Empowerment Foundation in Makurdi, the Benue State capital on Wednesday.
Morris, who is currently leading work on Human Rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief at the British High Commission in Nigeria, expressed concern over the level of violence across the country, which he noted, affects people of all genders, ethnicities and religions from all geographical locations.
‘One thing we all share in common is the desire to use whatever influence we may have to bring this to an end and bring lasting peace to Benue State and Nigeria,’ Morris said.
‘All of us who care about Nigeria will be concerned by the levels of violence across the country, Which affects people of all genders, ethnicities and religions from all geographical locations.’
He further noted that one of the priorities of the British ‘High Commission is to do all it can to tackle the issues of conflicts by raising awareness of the horror and scale of sexual violence, as well as the need to tackle accountability, bring justice, ensure victim support, and to take action as it tries to help rebuild relationships and promote inclusion.
‘That is why this event is so important, as we shine a spotlight on some of the painful experiences that people are living through in Nigeria and, importantly, to inspire collaborative action.’
In a remark, a member of the Board of Trustees of the African City of Refuge and Empowerment Foundation, Hamuburg Patricia, stated that the meeting is to hear the input of the people from the lower rung to the higher.
On his part, Executive Director of African City of Refuge and Empowerment Foundation, Pastor Justin Nenge, said the objective of the meeting was to get input from traditional, religious and political leaders on how they can use their influential offices to support the efforts of the youths and women in peacebuilding.
Explaining further, Nenge said the programme is geared towards ensuring that women and youths imbibe the culture of peace to enable them to pass the same culture to the younger generation in various communities through those who have been trained as peace ambassadors.
He disclosed that in the pilot phase of the programme, the Foundation would be working with three local government areas of Guma, Makurdi and Gwer West and hopes to extend the gesture to other local government areas of the state subsequently.
Also speaking, the Ter Tyoshin, HRH Daniel Abomtse, who was represented by Chief Jer Lawrence, Mue Ter Mbakpa, positing that the programme was very apt and timely, said Benue has had its own fair share of crises in the last few years during which the people have suffered so much for no fault of theirs.
While lamenting that the land crisis which was usually resolved by the traditional institution in the past is no longer so as the attackers seem to have come for an ethnic cleansing agenda which has resulted in a large number of Benue people now living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.
He commended the organisers of the programme and expressed the hope that at the end of the training, the much-desired peace would return to the state.
