The Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Dr. Ade Abolurin, has said over 3,000 conflicts have been managed by the corps.
He noted that the conflicts, which were interpersonal, marital and communal in nature, would have culminated in crises if they had not been nipped in the bud.
Abolurin, who was represented by the Assistant Commandant in charge of NSCDC Peace and Conflict Resolution Unit, Abuja, Mr. David Ojelabi, made the remark in Lagos during the opening ceremony of a five-day training workshop organised for the men of the corps and officers of other security agencies.
The training was aimed at sensitizing the operatives on the approaches to conflict resolution and management.
He said, “The corps has peace and conflict resolution units across the country with trained officers in peace and resolution mechanisms. We are into mediation be it interpersonal, marital, communal or border-boundary conflicts.
“So far, we have successfully handled across the federation, over 3,000 conflicts that would have resulted in communal crises. This training is remarkable as other security agencies such as the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force and the Nigeria Immigration Service are involved.”
The workshop, with the theme, “Alternative Dispute Resolution,” was sponsored by a German-based organisation, Konrad Adenauver Stifting and facilitated by the Executive Director, Impact for Change and Development, Dr. Naomi Akpa-Ita.
Akpa-Ita enjoined the participants to understand the peculiarities of the parties involved in any conflict and shun prejudice in handling matters.
She said, “We have recognised the fact that they (the officers) need to build capacity and we have helped them to understand that conflict management approach would work better for them. They have been taken through communication, negotiation, media and conflict analysis skills.
“They have to understand what conflict is all about, the people involved, their nature and approach to life. Above all, they also need to understand themselves in terms of conflict resolution because they could have biases and perception that are already pre-informing their actions.”
The Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Ade Ipaye, who was represented by Mrs. Ololade Williams, urged the security agencies to duly apply the knowledge they had acquired during the training in their relationships with members of the public.