Executive Summary
Following the democratic change of Government in Nigeria in 2015, the Federal Authority renewed its counter terrorism warfare in combatting the Boko Haram insurgency, translating to the continued defeat and decimation of the insurgents from the North-Eastern part of Nigeria as their strong hold and operational base to their extension to other key cities of the Northern part of the country, neighboring Bauchi State, inclusive.
The intensity of the Boko Haram's capability of terror strikes is aided by the poorly coordinated Early Warning Monitoring and Response mechanisms by communities, leaving room for devastation and likely expansion of extremist ideas and activities. Consequently, the capacity of active Early Warning and Response Networks in communities will determine to an extent their vulnerability and resilience.
This intervention is meant to build the local capacities of the grassroots members of the community to identify, monitor, respond and manage strange behaviour, predict conflict trends, alert communities of risks and initiate rapid responses to violent extremist tendencies among community members.
Project Objectives
To this effect, CCAPAD in collaboration with Global Centre on Cooperative Security and Carefronting is carrying out this intervention in Bauchi State, in the areas of Grassroots capacity development on Early Warning and Early Response to prevent and counter violent extremism (CVE).
The major thematic areas under which the project was implemented were:
- Workshops and trainings for 100 security outfit (conventional and non-conventional)
- Establishment of Early Warning Monitoring and Response Networks
Key Activities Implemented
1. Project Start-up and Advocacy Visits
CCAPAD carried out advocacy visits to key stakeholders in Bauchi between June 18th to June 20th, 2019. The visits were made to the Chairman Jama'atul Nasir Islam (JNI), Chairman Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Bauchi Emirate council, National Orientation Agency, the Police commissioner Bauchi State and the chairman Bauchi youth council to introduce and seek support for the project.
2. Workshops and Trainings
The training brought together Ninety-six (96) participants: eighty-one (81) males and fifteen (15) females from the 24th to 26th of June, 2019. Participants were drawn from:
- The Nigeria Police Force
- National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)
- Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN)
- Boys Brigade
- Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
- Jama'atul Nasril Islam (JNI)
- Bauchi Youth Council (BYC)
- Local Hunters Association (LHA)
- National Orientation Agency
- Emirate Council
- Peace and Security Committee (Yan Committee)
3. Topics Covered During Training
- CVE concept
- Community engagement
- Drivers of Radicalization and Factors of Radicalization
- Approaches to counter the drivers of radicalization
- Introduction to communication
- Leadership communication framework
- Conflict Early warning system, structure and function
- Difference between monitoring and intelligence gathering
- Indicators and signs as precursors to the eruption of violence
- Simulation exercises on safety/security and CVE
4. Establishment of Early Warning Monitoring and Response Networks
CCAPAD established an Early Warning Monitoring and Response Network in Bauchi using the trained beneficiaries to coordinate the affairs of the network. An eight (8) man committee representing the various participating organizations was elected with the Emir of Bauchi, Alh. Dr Rilwanu Adamu as the patron. The network is known as the "CCAPAD Local Security Network" and holds monthly meetings every last day of the month.
5. Monthly Network Meetings
The group met at the end of every month to discuss and proffer ways to prevent, counter and tackle violent extremism in their respective communities. The network held five (5) monthly meetings from July to November 2019.
Key Achievements and Highlights
Establishing EWER Network
Workshops gave participants the opportunity to think through ways to better prepare for outbreaks of violence or preventing and countering violent extremism in their immediate communities. The initiative brought home how collaborative responses across all the security outfit can improve the effectiveness of responses to violent extremism and also contribute to confidence building within the people.
About 60% of feedback from the stakeholders and the larger communities indicated they were informed on the project initiatives on preventing and countering violent extremism in their immediate communities.
Monthly Network Meetings
The "CCAPAD Local Security Network" has been able to foster collaboration among local security outfits in Bauchi. The EWER network comprises of 15 active local security groups that work to provide relevant data for the EWER so that violent extremism can be prevented.
Key achievements include:
- Beneficiaries held five (5) monthly meetings from July to November 2019
- The network designed a letter-headed paper for mobilizing/inviting relevant agencies
- Harmonized and coordinated approach to issues of insecurity and violent extremism
- Members developed a work plan on activities to implement in their communities
Participant Feedback
"The collaboration with organizations from the different security outfits has been new and very useful, both in terms of giving us the assurance that we are on the right track and also because we have something meaningful to share and learn from."
— Workshop participant, Palace Guard, Bauchi Emirate Council
"This workshop has begun to develop a constituency of people who can work on multiple layers of early warning response. It has started to establish processes and explore mechanisms for how local security personnel can react/prevent issues relating to violent extremism… We have a stronger synergy coming out of the workshop."
— Workshop participant, member VGN
"This training programme is an eye-opener for all of us. As a police officer, it has provided me with the understanding to better my work and about challenges and local conflicts."
— Police officer, Bauchi state command
Challenges and Lessons Learned
Challenges
- Refusal of critical stakeholders to attend initial planned meetings due to administrative bottlenecks
- Superior officers sending subordinates who couldn't take key decisions
- High influx of participants beyond planned numbers
- Low presence of women (only 15%) due to cultural and religious sensitivity
- Some participants could not read or write, hindering effective participation
Lessons Learned
- There is a visible presence of informal EWER structures in the community that need technical training
- Contextualizing and conducting trainings in both English and local languages (Hausa) produces better results
- No synergy existed between local security outfits before this project
- This was the first project to include the emirate council as participants
- The quest for SCALE UP and REPLICATION has been identified as a dire need
Impact and Sustainability
The capacity of project communities has been significantly built in early warning and response mechanisms, networks and platforms set up in target communities susceptible to current and new insurgent threats. The impact of these activities have shown positive results indicating there will be reduction in vulnerability of these communities to terror attacks and violent conflicts.
The project has a deliberate strategy of involving community members, leaders, local security outfits and domiciled organizations at every stage of implementation, promoting deeper understanding and ownership of the project's outcomes. The project is sustained through engaging volunteers for performing project activities, ensuring sustainability in the long run.