Taraba Peace Bureau Begins Grassroots Engagement to Strengthen Peacebuilding Efforts
By Christiana Babayo.
The Taraba State Bureau for Peace and Conflict Management has intensified efforts to prevent violent conflicts across the state, with a statewide grassroots engagement campaign aimed at building an early warning and response system in local communities.
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The initiative, which commenced in Yorro Local Government Area, is designed to bring government closer to communities and create channels for residents to identify and report potential threats before they escalate into violence.
Speaking during a town hall meeting in Pantisawa, Chairman of the Bureau, Bishop Innocent Rubiruka Solomon, said Governor Agbu Kefas established the agency to tackle the root causes of insecurity through a proactive and institutional approach.
According to him, Taraba’s history of communal, ethnic and religious conflicts has shown that security challenges cannot be addressed solely through reactive measures.
“His Excellency, Dr Governor Agbu Kefas created the Bureau for Peace and Conflict Management, to systematically, and based on scientific data analysis, handle the crises in Taraba State through the setting up of the 7 man committee.
“He said the mandate given to the committee is to go round the state and mobilize, conscientise and collaborate with the people of Taraba State to achieve a peaceful, secure and inclusive Taraba State. We are to do these by coming to the grassroots, coming to the Local Government Areas, discuss with them, hear what they are passing through and also tell them that a platform has been created which we can network together, collaborate together so that we can share information to avert conflicts and crisis in our Local Government Areas.
“Peace must be deliberately built and sustained. We are engaging communities because they are the first to notice signs of tension and conflict. If we can identify these signs early enough, we can prevent crises before they occur,” he said.
Bishop Solomon explained that the Bureau’s strategy centres on collaboration with traditional rulers, local government authorities, security agencies, youth groups, women organisations and other stakeholders to strengthen peacebuilding efforts at the grassroots.
He noted that the state government is also creating a network of local peace actors who will work closely with communities to provide timely information capable of preventing violence.
Bishop Solomon acknowledged that years of conflict had slowed development and created divisions among communities, but expressed confidence that the current administration’s peace initiatives would help rebuild trust and social cohesion.
Stakeholders at the meeting welcomed the initiative and stressed the importance of community participation in sustaining peace.
Several speakers urged parents to discourage their children from being used as agents of violence, particularly as political activities begin to increase ahead of future elections.
Others commended the Bureau’s early warning mechanism, describing it as a practical step towards preventing conflicts rather than merely responding to them after lives and property have been lost.
Yorro Local Government Chairperson, Mrs Martina Anthony, pledged the council’s support for the initiative, noting that peace remains the foundation for meaningful development.
She described the establishment of the Bureau as a timely intervention that would strengthen dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation among the diverse communities of Taraba State.
The statewide campaign is expected to cover all 16 local government areas as the government seeks to deepen community participation in its drive for a more peaceful and secure Taraba.
