FG, UK Funded Programme Strengthens Early Warning Systems as Plateau Stakeholders Push for Community-led Security

Yemi Kosoko in Jos

A national initiative to improve Nigeria’s capacity to detect and respond to emerging conflicts is underway in Plateau State, where government agencies, security actors, community groups, and civil society organisations have begun a week long capacity building workshop aimed at strengthening early warning and early response mechanisms.

The programme, implemented by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) under the UK funded SPRiNG Programme, is part of the National Conflict Early Warning and Early Response System (NCEWERS) Project, which is running simultaneously in Benue, Kaduna, Katsina, and Plateau States.

The initiative targets 200 stakeholders across the four states and focuses on conflict sensitivity, early warning data validation, climate risk analysis, and coordinated responses to farmer–herder clashes, banditry, communal disputes, and climate related threats.

Speaking during the Plateau State session, Dr. Mang Chaimang, a consultant with the Conflict Research Network West Africa (ConWest Africa), said the project was designed to close long standing gaps in how communities and institutions respond to early signs of violence.

“The objective is to strengthen the capacity of different response groups. The programme has created a network and a platform that enables stakeholders to respond promptly whenever there are conflict indicators or when conflict occurs in any community,” he said.

Chaimang noted that although the programme began in 2024, the dynamic nature of conflict in Nigeria means that insecurity persists in many states. Even so, he argued that the intervention has prevented several crises from escalating.

“If this programme had not been in place, we would likely have seen more severe incidents than what we have experienced so far. To a large extent, through this intervention, we have been able to nip some conflicts in the bud before they fully manifested,” he added.

For many participants, the workshop highlights a deeper structural problem: the disconnect between communities where violence occurs and the institutions deployed to intervene.

Dr. Oboshi Agyieno, Programme Coordinator of the Peace Initiative, said security responses often fail because agencies lack contextual understanding of the communities they are sent to protect.

“Most times, security agencies are deployed to a community to resolve a problem, but they do not understand the context of that community. This is one of the reasons why the call for state policing or community policing is getting louder,” he said.

Agyieno argued that Nigeria must adopt a whole of society approach to security, one that empowers communities, strengthens local government administration, and gives traditional rulers clearer constitutional roles.

“There is no way one person or one organisation can handle the level of insecurity we currently face. Government must come down to the people, rather than remaining aloof from what communities are going through,” he said.

The Permanent Secretary of the Plateau State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Rebecca Keisha Shaseet, described the workshop as timely, especially for institutions working with women, children, and other vulnerable groups who are often the most affected during crises.

“It has given us a platform to address one of the major challenges in most conflicts: early warning. How do we detect the signals in time? With this engagement, our early warning response is being strengthened, as well as how we manage information and tackle conflict effectively,” she said.

For persons with disabilities, early warning is not just a technical tool but a matter of survival.

Zainab Mustapha, National Women Leader of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), said the training would help her members respond more safely during crises.

“Persons with disabilities during crises often face greater difficulties because of the nature of their disabilities. If they understand the warning signs, once they notice any danger, they can try to protect themselves early,” she said.

Mustapha explained that JONAPWD operates structured communication channels across all 36 states and 774 local governments, enabling rapid information sharing during emergencies.

She said the organisation would step down the training to its members nationwide.

“For someone like me with physical impairment, how can I start running? For persons with hearing impairment, how can they hear the warning? This training is very important for us, and we will share it with our members,” she said.

The Plateau workshop brings together security agencies, state institutions, traditional rulers, women and youth groups, and community level structures.

According to IPCR, the goal is to improve collaboration between grassroots reporting systems and state coordination platforms, ensuring faster, more inclusive responses to emerging threats.

As Nigeria continues to grapple with banditry, communal tensions, and climate driven resource conflicts, stakeholders say the success of early warning systems will depend on sustained government commitment, community ownership, and the inclusion of groups often left out of security planning.