How Enugu group is fighting insecurity with community initiative

From Jude Chinedu, Enugu

There  was a renewed community spirit in Abor community, Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State on May 15, 2026, as residents gathered in their numbers at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Abor, for the launch of a peace-building and empowerment initiative aimed at addressing social vices, promoting unity, and supporting small-scale entrepreneurship.

The programme, organised by the Association for a Better Society (ASBESOC), featured the unveiling of its Peace Building and Behavioural Change Programme alongside the Potential Entrepreneurs Project (PEP), both designed to promote peaceful coexistence and economic self-reliance within communities.

Men, women, and youths from different parts of the community attended the event, which was spearheaded by the Founder of ASBESOC, Dr Elias Chibuike Igwe.

Speaking during the launch, Igwe said the organisation chose to begin the initiative in Abor before extending it to other communities across Enugu State.

He said: “We gathered here, today, to inaugurate our new project as an NGO. We are introducing what we call the Peace Building and Behavioural Change Programme, which we are trying to introduce in every community to ensure that there is peace in our communities and to empower the people.

“From here, we will move beyond this community to other communities and clusters. We gathered people together to train them on how they should behave in order to achieve positive outcomes and build peace. Some people do not know that the way they behave brings negative things back to them.”

He said that the programme would focus on training participants in integrity, human rights, and responsible conduct as part of efforts to encourage positive behavioural change.

“That is what we are trying to introduce, where we train them in integrity, human rights and other areas. The book we launched today is a compilation of all the courses and materials we are going to use to train them,” he added.

Igwe disclosed that facilitators had already been assembled to begin a three-day intensive training programme for participants before the commencement of the entrepreneurship phase of the project.

Beyond peace-building, the initiative also seeks to address unemployment and poverty through financial support for aspiring entrepreneurs.

He said: “This project is where we groom and build entrepreneurs. We found out that financial institutions do not give start-up funds to entrepreneurs. We are trying, as an NGO, to see how we can help, especially the downtrodden, to raise small money to start small businesses.

“We promised to give them N200,000 at the end of 10 months. They can pool the money together as a group to establish a small-scale industry or any meaningful venture that will help their livelihood.”

Also speaking at the event, Stephen Obi, who represented the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, said empowerment was essential in the fight against corruption and social vices.

“It is good that he is empowering his people positively. You know when people are not empowered positively in a community, in the area where we are partnering with them, we cannot do anything because you do not come to a community and begin to speak about corruption when people are not empowered positively. Nobody will give you a listening ear,” he said.

The traditional ruler of the Abor community, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Chukwudi Ngwudile, described the initiative as a welcome development capable of strengthening peace and progress in the area.

“This is a great thing for our community, Abor. Anyone who wants peace wants the progress of the community. If there is peace in our families, villages and communities, there will be progress,” the monarch stated.

“We are happy that our son brought this to our community. We thank our son very much for the ideas he keeps bringing to our community. We will keep supporting him so that he will achieve his aim in this project.”