From Olukayode Idowu, Maiduguri
The West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP) has said a lot still needs to be done to get the society ready for the “repentant Boko Haram.”
Speaking at the weekend in Maiduguri at the Localisation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, the National Coordinator, West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP), Nigeria, Bridget Osakwe said the society is not yet ready for the reintegration of repentant Boko Haram.
She said: “We have to build capacity to handle such things,” noting that research conducted in the Northeast has shown that the people needs to be encouraged to give up on some misgivings about insurgents and the need to allow for peace by forgiving them their sins.”
She added that: “We need to build the capacity of the society on handling the problems. We have to admit that people are aggrieved and go about aggressively at working on reintegration and reconciliation.
She decried that: “If there is no proper reconciliation, people would never be at peace at people who have done them harms. You cannot sit down and watch someone who has killed someone very close to you, your husband, brother or child and you are told to accept them without proper reconciliation.”
On what brought her to Maiduguri, Osakwe said: “We are here to have a localization workshop on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 at the global level and at the national level we have national action plan and we have an action plan at the Borno level due for review.
“We intend to have a draft action plan that would map out different strategies for community women and men to play critical roles in peace and security in their communities.”
She said the workshop would come handing on the issues brought about by #ENDSARS protest because it was all about bringing security and building capacity and helping the women on handling of conflict.
She said we taught them on conflict analysis tools and how to handle this kind of situation and what they need as women to maintain peace and security in the community.