Zissimos Vergos, the Deputy Head of Mission to Nigeria for the European Union, has advocated for the eradication of elements fueling criminal activities in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. He emphasized the EU’s support for inclusive community approaches to address the root causes of violence in the area.
Vergos highlighted the EU’s commitment to endorsing methods that involve the community in tackling the underlying factors contributing to unrest in the Niger Delta region.
According to a recent report by the Partnership Initiative for the Niger Delta, prevalent crimes in the region include clashes related to militancy and illegal oil bunkering, kidnapping for ransom, communal conflicts, mob violence, clashes between rival cult gangs, organized criminal activities, and separatist movements.
Speaking at the launch of a peace promotion project, tagged ”A Community Centred Approach to Transforming Criminality and Violence in the Niger Delta” in Abuja on Thursday, Vergos called for a paradigm shift in addressing the scourge.
He said, “We all know we cannot address the structural problems of the Niger Delta region directly, but what we can do is highlight the paradigm shift and the theory of change that can convince a lot of people.
“Out of our interest in seeing Nigeria achieve its status as the giant of Africa, what we can do as a partner is bring resources to the table so that Nigerian partners can work around their challenges. This is very important to highlight.
“Through this process, we are learning because we definitely don’t come around to historical problems pretending that we fully understand the solution. What we know and bring from our societies is that inclusive societies do better.
“The EU supports inclusive community approaches to address systemic drivers of violence in the Niger Delta region.”
Zissimos commended the consortium partners, Stakeholders Democracy Network, Academic Associate Peace Works, and Partnership Initiative for the Niger Delta for working together to propose an alternative narrative to the interference of violence prevailing in the region.
The minister of Niger Delta, Engineer Abubakar Momoh, who his special assistant, James Khanoba, represented, expressed hope that the project would yield the desired impact.
He said, “We hope that the ‘Community Centred Approach to Transforming Criminality and Violence in the Niger Delta’ project serves as a compass that guides government towards a more holistic understanding of the problem in the region and the potential pathways to sustainable solutions.”
Country Director, of Search for Common Ground, Fatima Abubakar, said her organization and the Consortium partners have successfully launched the launch of the project in Bayelsa, Rivers, and Delta States, where the respective state governments demonstrated their commitment to promoting inclusive community security approaches and addressing the root causes of violence and criminality in the region.
