CSO Harps On Early Warning Response To Combat Security Challenges In Communities

 

By

Pius Dukor

Civil Society Legislative Advocacy ( CISLAC) have task all security agencies and community leaders adapt early warning and early response to combat security challenges. CISLAC with the support from Open Society Foundation ( OSF-Africa) made the remark at a one day event on Community Security Architecture  Dialogue on Early Warning and Early Response  in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital. 

In his welcome remarks, the Executive Director of CISLAC,  Auwal Ibrahim Musa explained that conflict sensitivity is important to community security architecture in our local communities, hence the dialogue.

Represented at the event by Jimoh Abubakar, the Executive Director maintained that community people should report early warning before the full crisis situation to minimise or eradicate lost of lives and properties. He further told participants that community people should report signals of conflict rather incident itself, noting that intelligent gathering is a panacea for peace. 

He further explained that community training on dialogue will help reduce banditry, kidnapping and killing by either cultist or bandits. 

Earlier , the Resource Person, Comrade Sebastian Kpalap in his presentation titled " Human Security Threat in  Nigeria' s South- South " enumerated some key issues that can generate security threats within the community in the South South region of Nigeria. Some of the identified issues include sea pirate, cultism, illegal bunkering, drug abuse, environmental pollution, bad governance, electoral violence and youth unemployment among others. 

In an interview with journalist, some of the participants identified,  land grabbing, chieftaincy crisis, are identified as part of the cases that can lead to altercation within community while calling on government to do the needful and curb the sad situation experience by some communities in the Niger Delta.

It was observed that inter- agency rivalry and resource struggle among the security agencies hamper collective and coordinated response to reported threats signals.

It was observed that the Ledor community in Tai local government of Rivers State have some casualties due to case of land grabbing were it was alleged that youths from neighbouring local government of Oyigbo attacked famers in Ledor community. Within the week, some communities in Etche LGA staged a peaceful protest to government House Port Harcourt due attack by suspected hoodlums in relation to land grabbing in the area. 

Participants have task the different security agencies to work and collaborate together for effective policing of the environment. The people frown at rate of vigilantes springing up saying the people are abusing the right of citizens since they are not recognise by the Constitution to handle criminal cases. 

The group recommended among others that creation of community spies with proper integration and intelligence gathering for coordinated response will reduce crisis and insecurity. Also, formidable group building in early warning process to engender strong voice in reporting signals and elicit timely response.