By Ebere Agozie
The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) on Monday unveiled Land Justice Guidelines for the Prevention and Resolution of conflicts between farmers and herders in Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau and Benue states for lasting peace.
Mrs Ijeoma Nwafor, HiiL Country Representative at the event in Abuja said efforts are being made by Hiil to support communities in resolving farmers and herders conflicts fairly.
Nwafor noted that the guidelines is part of HiiL’s work being implemented under the Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRING) Programme, funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
She said the programme focuses on supporting communities and institutions to prevent conflict, strengthen resilience, and promote peaceful coexistence in areas affected by farmer-herder disputes.
“These guidelines are the result of extensive research and deep consultations with traditional rulers, community leaders, legal experts, and key stakeholders across Kaduna, Katsina, Plateau, and Benue states.
“Across Nigeria, conflicts between farmers and herders have increasingly become a major source of insecurity and tension in many communities.
“While many of these conflicts are often portrayed as ethnic or security crises, many of them originate from disputes over access to land, water, grazing routes and other natural resources.”
She reiterated HiiL’s resolve to continue to work closely with government institutions, civil society organisations, researchers, and community leaders to strengthen access to justice and promote peaceful dispute resolution.
“Our social enterprise is dedicated to making the justice systems work for people.
“We focus on People-Centred Justice by developing practical, data-driven, and innovative solutions that empower individuals and communities to prevent and resolve their most pressing everyday justice problems.”
The country representative noted that the guidelines present practical and evidence-based approaches for preventing disputes and managing conflicts when they arise.
“To ensure the solutions were grounded in reality, the process involved gathering direct insights through field interviews and community consultations.
“This allowed us to map the complex dynamics of land-related disputes and identify the organic mechanisms communities already use to resolve them.
“These approaches include improved land-use coordination to reduce friction, strengthened community mediation structures for accessible justice and transparent processes for assessing damages and compensation.
“They provide actionable recommendations to support communities, institutions, policy makers in addressing land-related conflicts more effectively and sustainably.”
She, thereafter, urged the media to help shape public perception and national conversation around conflict reporting by highlighting preventive approaches, mediation efforts, and community-driven solutions that contribute to peace and stability.
Mr Damian Ihekoronye, Coalition and Advocacy Lead, SPRING Programme, cautioned the media on negative narratives and highlighted how these narratives fuel conflicts across the nation.
“We are looking at how narratives, negative narratives, negative profiling, religious profiling and disinformation contribute to the conflict that we are having in the country right now.
“We understand that conflicts do not just happen, people contribute to conflict through their actions and inactions, therefore we all must work to ensure that conflicts are not escalated.’’
Ihekoronye, equally noted that SPRING is working on the best practices to improve productivity of farmers and that of pastoralists to ensure lasting peace in communities.
“We work with different partners and the civil society organisations to provide technical assistance to government institutions.
“These institutions and NGO’s are benefiting from our technical assistance to improve their capacity to deliver on their mandates.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that present at the parley were development experts, legal practitioners, mediators, the media, and other stakeholders.
