Italian NGO trains 1,500 persons on peace building in Plateau
NAN-H-40
Peace
Mangu (Plateau) Nov. 2, 2016 (NAN) APURIMAC, an Italian Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has trained 1,500 persons on peace building strategies in Plateau, according to its Project Coordinator, Mr Peter Iorapuu.
Iorapuu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Mangu, Plateau State, on Wednesday, that the training was carried out in conjunction with Augustine Order, a Catholic organisation based in Jos.
He said that the training was part of the NGO’s efforts to curb the sectarian and ethnic conflicts that had been the lot of Plateau over the years.
“ What we have done is to engage various actors in the society into peace building capacities in areas where crises are likely to occur.
“We paid special attention to schools and trained their Principals, teachers, Education Secretaries, Area Directors of Education and officials of Students Union Government (SUG), in tertiary institutions.
“Generally, such groups usually interact with all manners of persons; we figured that reaching out to them will mean reaching out to a large segment of the society,” he said.
He said that the trainees were selected from six of the 17 Local Governments in Plateau, and explained that each of the three senatorial districts had two each.
“Very often, villagers cause trouble in schools by triggering protests over compensation and other frivolous demands. If the Principals and teachers are not trained on how to handle such situations, it may run out of hand and disrupt the peace of that community,’’ he said.
The project manager also noted that bad elements had often used students to foment trouble in tertiary institutions, hence the decision to capture the SUG Officials in the training programmes.
“You must have noticed that Plateau has not recorded any case of violence in tertiary institutions in the past few years. Our efforts are responsible for that,” he said. (NAN)
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