NSCDC establishes ‘grievance managament centres’ in Ondo for conflict resolution

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ondo state command, has established 25 grievance management centres (GMCs) in all its formations to resolve conflicts in the state.

Hammed Abodunrin, NSCDC commandant in the state, disclosed this on Tuesday in Akure, the Ondo capital, at the opening of a one-day training workshop for divisional officers.

The training, which was organised in collaboration with the Partners for Peace (P4P) in the Niger Delta, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), had as its theme, ‘Building Resilience in the Agitated World’.

Abodunrin said the NSCDC is committed to tackling the challenges of conflict, particularly the issues of violence in Nigeria.

The commandant advised the officers not to wait in their various divisional offices for people to bring complaints to them, but rather, they should go out and investigate to establish the causes of grievances.

“It has become imperatives for all divisional officers of NSCDC to tackle the conflicts when it has not manifested at all, because we discovered that many grievances that are reported are not properly attended to,” he said.

“We want to see a situation where we can really address grievances before it manifest or even, when it has. We should find ways we can really calm people down and make sure that justice is done.

“The country today is witnessing a lot of challenges in the area of living together harmoniously, even within families.

“There is global conflict whereby people do not agree with each other on so many issues. There is nothing wrong with conflict. In fact, conflict could be good, but our responses to conflicts are the issues we have.

“So, we should be able to respond to issues concerning security, peace and conflict in our society to ensure that we live in a society where people are not at war constantly.”

He, therefore, advised the divisional officers to be wary of making promises on issues any community may be agitating for, but rather ensure that peace reigns in their host communities.

The commandant expressed his appreciation to Abubakar Audi, commamdant-general of the NSCDC, for his commitment to training and retraining of personnel in order for the corps to remain relevant in the society.

Speaking on the collaboration, Abodunrin said more stakeholders would be brought into the security fold to make society peaceful.

Abodunrin, who commended the P4P for the collaboration, said nothing could be done if society is not peaceful.

In his remarks, Pius Alomolafe, national coordinator of P4P, said the collaboration was to ensure peace in the state and Nigeria at large, adding that when a nation is at peace, development is achievable faster.

“In Nigeria today, there is agitation of different things or the other, including security, educational and economy issues, where everybody is angry,” he said.

“So, we want to use this opportunity to sensitise and create awareness to calm people down.”