Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in collaboration with Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has trained its personnel on the principles and practices of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to sustain peace in the country.
The 4 days training, which was also in partnership with the UNDP, started from Sept. 21 to Sept. 24 at the NSCDC Headquarters, Sauka, Abuja.
At the closing ceremony, NSCDC launched an inter-agency collaboration handbook for effective security and crisis management in Nigeria.
Mr Abdullahi Gana, Commandant General (CG), NSCDC, said that the training would be continuous as there was need to strengthen the capacity of peace officers.
The CG represented by ACG Kelechi Madu, said that the training would assist officers to perform the task of conflict prevention, management and local community peace building.
“NSCDC Peace Department has between 2013 and now successfully resolved over 50,000 civil disputes using ADR methodology.
“Within the period, the department has recovered liquid assets worth over N40m while ensuring that potentially violent conflicts are peacefully curbed.
“Participants of this training were also drawn from NPF to foster inter-agency collaboration which offers a platform for sharing and learning experiences among security personnel.
“ It also encourages standardisation in principles and practice of ADR in the course of sustaining peace development in Nigeria,” he said.
Gana encouraged participants to make best use of the training opportunity to develop their personal capacity for non-kinetic conflict resolution.
He further said that the handbook would serve as a useful reference book for academic, policy and security decision makers in Nigeria.
UNDP Team Lead on Governance, Peace and Security, Mr Mathew Alao, urged the NPF to establish peace units across all their formations.
“The police being the most security provider, the importance of having a peace unit is long overdue as they are at the grassroots.
“All cases should not default to arrest and detention as there should be room to direct cases to the right units.
“If the country must change, it has to begin from security agencies in building peaceful mandates,” he said.
Mr Daso Oruebe, Commissioner of Police on Inspectorate Training, appreciated NSCDC and UNDP for the support on intellectual peace training of officers.
“To the participants, you have gained a lot and are few of the lucky chosen ones and serve as representatives. As representatives you should be appreciative of the knowledge acquired and ensure to train colleagues,” he said.
A participant from NPF, DSP Ikemereh Charles, said that the training allow for officers from different agencies involved in security to interact with each other.
“It gave us the opportunity to broaden our prospects and horizon in the provision of peace and settlement of dispute which has become a very important aspect in the fight against crimes in the country,” he said.
Another beneficiary from NSCDC, Assistant Commandant of Corps, Mr Olufemi Awofade said that the training was impactful as majority of the topics discussed would foster peace in the country.
