EU group tasks stakeholders on fight against drug abuse, conflicts in Rivers

EMMANUEL NLEWEDUM, Port Harcourt

An European Union funded organisation, Search for Common Ground, SFCG, has called for collaborative actions between community leaders and key stakeholders in Rivers State to combat drug abuse and other form of criminality among youths in the state.

Speaking at a one-day regional multi-stakeholders consultative engagement in Port Harcourt, Director of Programmes, Search for Common Ground, Gift Omoniwa said, the stakeholders’ engagement which had representatives from the Rivers State Government, security agencies, the NDLEA, the media, the CSOs, traditional rulers, SPAs, Community and youths leaders, in attendance, was part of the organisation’s peacebuilding and conflict resolution project in the Niger Delta, using community-centered approach to transforming criminality and violence in the region.

Omoniwa disclosed that the project is being implemented in 66 communities, 33 local government areas of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States, with the goal of fostering inclusive community security approaches to address systematic drivers of violence and all forms of crime in the three states.

She said, “While we are sharing update on what we are doing and the impact that the project is putting, we are also looking out for the potential rise of collaboration with different institutions and agencies.

“Our meeting today has shown that stakeholders are very interested in what we are doing and have shown their willingness to collaborate with SEARCH. So, this is going to be ongoing and we look forward to have more of these potential partnerships.

“For the project to be sustained, we are deploying a community centred approach that empowers the community to lead these processes on their own with or without Search for Common Ground. And we are happy that the communities are excited and they are also picking up these initiatives.”

National Conflict and Policy Analyst for SEARCH, Andrew Nkemneme, while presenting the organisation’s  Conflict Snapshot, a research work carried out in Rivers State between April to December 2024, identified drug abuse as an emerging threat and a major driver of other conflicts and criminality in the Rivers and other parts of Niger Delta, and made some recommendations that could provide a solution to the menace.

Nkemneme said, the snapshot tries to monitor some conflicts such as cultism, militancy, economic, communal and political conflicts, etc, to see where there are changes over time, and also help the organisation redesign its project to meet up with the needs of the people, and the goals of the project.

He said, “We have presented our findings and by the grace of God, some of the conflicts have actually reduced in number and dynamics.

“But we have also discovered some emerging conflicts which is already driving other conflicts and could be worse if not tackled, and that is drug abuse.

“Drug abuse has become a major issue that is driving other conflicts such as militancy, cultism, kidnapping, hardship, among other vices in Rivers State and other part of Niger Delta. Today, we have come to redesign our project with the help of stakeholders who are members of these communities to achieve our goals.

“We have also made some recommendations, and that includes building partnerships and collaborations with and among key stakeholders and leaders, traditional rulers and community heads, training of the youths who are the major actors in crime, and empowering them with skills,  vocational training and economic opportunities.

“There should also be conflict sensitivity training, strong collaboration with security agencies as well as monitoring and evaluating of conflict trends.”

Andrew Nkemneme maintained that “all hands must be on deck, NDLEA alone cannot handle the menace of drug abuse in society today. There is a need for everybody the CSOs, the media, the government and key stakeholders to come in before this can be curtailed.”

Speaking at the event, the Secretary, of Rivers State Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Council, Mrs. Ilanye Brown, the Asst. Women Leader of PANDEV, Rivers State, Princess Lovinah Kakpoilo Enyekit-Itah, Prof. Ifeanacho Martins of Centre for Peace and Security Studies, at the University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT, and the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the Rivers State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Comrade God’spower Lekia Anya, lauded Search for Common Ground and its partners, Stakeholders Democracy Network (SDN), Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND), and AAPW, for fostering unity and peaceful coexistence among communities in Rivers and other Niger Delta States through the project.

They pledged an improved partnership with Search for Common Ground and declared their commitment to support in sustainability of the project.

“We commend SEARCH for this amazing project, we do not hope to back out. As partners, we will want to see that this project is sustained. As far as we are concerned, this is a continuous project.”