Nigeria Early Recovery Initiative(NERI), a unit of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated four motorcycles and other items to strengthen security at Fori community in Kaduna State.
NERI Programme Manager, Mrs Chikodi Omokide, presented the motorcycles and other items to the community in Jema’a Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, on Monday
The other items were 80 safety boots, 80 rain coats and 80 umbrellas, 80 waterproof wrist watches, 80 torchlight, 80 transistor radios and 80 whistles.
Omokide said, “Fori is one among other communities in Jema’a LGA with a rich history of peaceful co-existence, hence our decision to do this.
“We want to encourage the Fori people and other communities to continue to live as one entity in spite of their ethnic, cultural and religious differences,” he said.
She recalled that NERI had trained 80 Fori youths community watch volunteers and other ethnic group in the area on early warning, and mechanisms and strategic conflict reporting system.
According to her, the agency will also provide two motorised boreholes and install 20 street lights in strategic locations in the community.
The Village Head of Fori, Vosco Maigari, who received the items on behalf of the community, thanked NERI for the gesture.
Maigari noted that the gesture was timely given the current security situation in the state and country at large.
He also noted that equipping the youths with knowledge of early warning signs of conflict would build their capacity to mitigate and manage conflict.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NERI has been working to strengthen grassroots security and implement other developmental interventions in Southern Kaduna since 2020. (NAN)