Communal Clashes Research Articles

Communal dialogue and peacebuilding education in volatile terrain: A study of the volatile African region

This article evaluates the adoption of communal dialogue as an education tool for peace building in volatile terrain in Africa, using Benue State, North-Central Nigeria, as a case in point. Benue State has, in the last eight years, been known for constant communal clashes. This article looks at ways to adopt a valid model of conflict resolution to end this struggle. The yearly uproar arising in this region as residents live in constant fear calls for concern. This inquiry collated churns of research using secondary data together with a survey to ensure a tangible solution was proffered. All the local governments in this region were selected, especially where there are consistent struggles, interferences of herdsmen, and insecurities. About 363 copies of the questionnaires were distributed among residents living in this region. The aim is to generate data bordering on peace building education initiatives, as regular conflicts have rampaged this region for over a decade. Expected findings will focus on the best model that can tackle insecurity appropriately. The study's findings show that all the respondents agreed that they see communal dialogue approaches employed as viable tools for peacebuilding education in the region. Important to note is the need to consider the peculiarities of this region. It is crucial to leverage frameworks that best suit this struggle, considering peculiarities in these regions as seen in similar areas in different parts of the world today. We therefore recommend that communal dialogue approaches be properly employed to restore lasting peace.

Hindutva, Hindu Diaspora and Communal Unrest in Leicester

ABSTRACT A rightward shift in politics and the electoral rise of the Hindu nationalist party in India also influenced the thinking of the Hindu diaspora living across the world for years. This paper examines the link between Hindu nationalism in India and a growing Hinduness among the Indian diaspora population, mainly among the second-generation members of the community living in the United Kingdom. The paper analyses the communal clashes held in Leicester in 2022, which were not sudden but a result of tensions bubbling for many years among the communal groups that had been living together for years.

Socio-Political study on the Causes, Evolution and Subsequent Effects of Manipur’s Communal Clashes

This paper focuses on the Manipur clashes began in Early May, 2023. The following clashes became much more brutal between Meiteis and Kukis. Superficially, these large-scale communal clashes were caused by the tribal status approval of Meiteis from High Court of Manipur. Insightfully, the clashes are rooted in the “Reservation” and Hindu nationalism. Both catalyzed conflicts by the BJP's increasingly populist mobilization. The neglect and omission of BJP-ruled central and state governments in the early stages of clashes are worsening the situation. The opposition alliance recently launched “No-confidence vote” against Modi in Lok Sabha, arguing that his silence on brutal violence reflected BJP-led central and state governments had lost the impartiality. Only by ending riots instantly, restoring social order, creating channels for peace talks and promoting economic development could deputes be resolved, mutual trust rebuilt and peaceful co-habituated be achieved.

Settler-Indigene Conflicts and National Integration in Nigeria: A Study of Lokoja Metropolis, Kogi State

Crisis in the world at large has become a phenomena issue. This situation has gone far that even remotest villages across borderlines have toed the part of war rather than dialogue. There are severally cases of communal clashes emanating from perennial matters among major ethnic groups in Kogi State. The objective of the study is to examine the role of settler-indigene conflict and its attendant consequences on national integration especially as it affects Lokoja metropolis. The theoretical framework of this research work was drawn from elite theory. This research has its methodology rooted in both quantitative and qualitative method and systematic technique was used to draw 100 respondents and data obtained was analyzed descriptively via content analysis. The study argues that settler-indigene conflict has created disunity among different ethnic groups in Kogi State. This perspective also assumes that frequent conflict among settlers will degenerate into chaos and breed disunity. The results of the study reveal that the major causes of conflict among settler-indigene in Lokoja was the quest for power, struggle for ownership of land and access to water for fishing. The study recommends amongst others that; there should be a strong sharing formula to foster unity among settler-indigenes; meritocracy should also be the watch word for appointments into key positions in the state. In other words, there is need for national integration through peaceful procedural way that will promote peaceful co-existence.

Impacts of Ethnic Conflict on Formal Education in Ghana: A case study of Chereponi District in North-Eastern Ghana

Purpose: The study set out to explore the impact of conflict on educational activities.
 Methodology: The study employed a mixed method design where both qualitative and quantitative data was collected.The target population for this study was limited to the stake holders of education in district because they had adequate knowledge about what constitute educational activities and how these are affected by the conflict. These included Teachers, current students, School Management Committee (SMC) members and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs).
 Findings: It was also revealed that the impact of the conflict on educational activities were school closures, absenteeism of both teachers and students, movement of teachers to other districts, disruption of examinations and child rights abuse. During the conflicts GES schools were shut down over a year so no academic activities took place during the period. Pupils remained at home with their parents for safety reasons.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study recommends that the Ministry of Youth and Local Government may liaise with the National House of Chiefs and the Northern Regional House of Chiefs to employ the indigenous methods of conflict resolution within the district to resolve the conflict between the Chokosis and the Konkombas. The Government of Ghana may formulate policies that will forbid any warring factions from targeting educational facilities or education employees and students so as to prevent instances where communal clashes disrupt academic activities.

Mental Health Promotion for Internally Displaced Persons Using Drama Therapy in Makurdi Area, North Central Nigeria

Trends in contemporary global arts practice have shown that experts in the field of mental health have long tapped into visual arts and music to help treat developmental disabilities and several other mental issues, including depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, as well as schizophrenia and bipolar spectrum. Today, therapists are finding great benefit from another art form; drama.” However, the paradox in Nigeria, especially in the northern part is that drama technique as a psychotherapeutic practice does not exist in the protocol of mental health facilities. In retrospect, it is obvious that the poor status of mental health care in northern Nigeria is due mainly to lack of facilities, un-affordability and inaccessibility to health facilities. Against this backdrop of increasing mental health issues, especially post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD); resulting from insurgency attacks, communal clashes, herdsmen carnage, road accident and flood, which have given rise to various internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps vis-à-vis their psychological implication in the north. The need for the availability of drama therapy technique becomes highly imperative for affordable, accessible and effective mental healthcare promotion. The paper discusses the concept and practice of drama and theatre therapy techniques, and how they can be applied in psychotherapeutic sessions both at individual and group therapy levels. The improvisational approach which keys into various expressive art techniques shall be utilized. The approach is used to create believable characters out of IDPs themselves, through storytelling, songs, music, dance, etc., to enable them to get emotionally involved to establish a recall of the experience that brought about their disadvantaged psychological condition. This leads to clinical discussions that will facilitate the way forward in making individual and collective choices and decisions that will bring about not just mental health, but holistic well-being.

Boundary Discords in Yoruba Land: A Case of Ise/ Emure Crisis from the Earliest Time

Since communities and families held land in trust for all family members, it was determined that individuals did not own any of it. Boundary and territorial disputes often stem from material or cultural claims; sometimes they may also emerge as a result of fundamental changes in domestic environments. The focus of this study is an attempt to consider disputation involvements or experiences of two communities, Ise - Ekiti and Emure Ekiti about land as traditionally conceived. The study found clearly that boundaries created by the colonial government became a problem for Ise and Emure communities who were not satisfied with the British artificial boundary demarcations in Yoruba land. The cases of artificial boundary demarcation had led to communal clashes and destroyed properties between these communities. A combination of historical, descriptive and interpretative methods of data collection and analysis was adopted. The study used both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was sourced through oral interviews. Here, fieldwork was carried out among the people of Ise/ Orun and Emure. The researcher interacted with the prominent chiefs, elders, and women in different categories. Information collected through life experience formed the bedrock of the primary data. Secondary data was generated from various relevant journal articles, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, archival materials, unpublished theses, dissertations, WACA Report and the internet. The study concludes that up till the recent time, the boundary discord between Ise and Emure has mellowed down their cordial relationship. It is important to state that the WACA judgments need to be taken by the supreme court for interpretations.

Abdominal Injuries from Civilian Conflicts: An Emerging Global Health Challenge in Rural Southeast Nigeria.

In recent time, incidence of abdominal injuries continues to increase steadily in most major regions of West Africa due to emergence of various religious, social and political conflicts. Indeed, violence and social conflicts constitute major global public health challenges that commonly lead to injuries and long-term physical and mental health problems. In our setting, increasing cases of abdominal trauma resulting from civilian violence led to additional workload in the general surgery unit and the audit of our experiences is presented in this paper. To analyze the etiological spectrum, trend and management outcome of abdominal injuries from civilian violence in our setting. This was a multicenter prospective study of adult patients with abdominal injuries from civilian conflicts managed at three selected district hospitals in Southeast Nigeria between January 2013 to December 2020. Of 398 patients evaluated, 359 (90.2%) sustained penetrating while 39 (9.8%) had blunt abdominal injuries. Gunshot was the most common mechanism, accounting for 248 (62.3%) cases, followed by stab wound (95, 23.9%). Armed robbery attack (68, 27.4%) was the main source of gunshot wounds. Overall, annual rates showed a four-fold rise over an eight-year period from 24 cases (6.0%) in 2013 to 96 (24.1%) in 2020. Majority (365, 91.7%) had operative management (OM); the rest (33, 8.3%) were treated non-operatively. Morbidity and mortality rates for operative cases were 29.6% and 12.1% respectively. The main factors associated with increased mortality rates were delayed presentation (p = 0.002), bowel resection (p = 0.006), gunshot wounds (p = 0.013), advanced age (p = 0.033), multiple visceral injury (p = 0.034) and ASA score ≥ III (p = 0.001). Abdominal trauma from civilian violence is on the steady rise in our setting. The main etiologic factors are armed-robbery, communal clashes, political thuggery and cultism perpetrated predominantly through gunshots and stab wounds. Advancing age, gunshot wounds, delayed presentation, bowel resection and multiple injuries were associated with increased mortality.

Tale of Female Body: A Critical Study of Taslima Nasreen’s Novels Shodh and French Lover

Violence against women is an age old practice which has now become a major issue of concern in today’s world. It has been witnessed that in any kind of war whether it is civil strife, communal clashes or World Wars women have been the major victims of violence, torture and humiliation. Women have been supposed as caring mothers, faithful wives, loving sisters, defensive angels governed by male domination society. India is a society in which father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line and as such become vibrant with male female issues especially in joint families. The themes which preoccupy the mind of the writer in the novels Shodh and French Lover are gender bias which eventually result in revenge. Being herself a victim of the patriarchal structures Taslima Nasreen has seen things very closely that how women are given the role of a subordinate where they cannot, in anyway, assert their right to freedom, right to a healthy life and right to equality. Thus, her novel Shodh is a shattering blow to the hegemonic patriarchal set up where a woman’s fidelity is constantly under the shadow of suspicion and doubt thereby subjecting her to physical and mental anguish and pain. This paper focuses upon the different dimensions of violence and their impact on the female protagonist Jhumur, who eventually takes a stand for establishing her own identity in the patriarchal set up. Nasreen’s next novel French Lover tells the story of the patriarchal control exerted on the protagonist Nilanjana by her father, her husband Kishanlal and the domination of friends and lover. This article on French Lover and Shodh focus on the predominant thematic concerns of Nasreen as a feminist. French Lover and Shodh are her medium to convey her views on various sociological, political issues which encompass not only the fate of any nation but also that of women everywhere. The analysis focuses on the failure of marriage in the case of various individuals, especially all the chief characters. Nasreen may be construed as justifying the frustration of Nila at her shabby treatment by Kishanlal and subsequently abandoning her husband. When Nila speaks on behalf of Nasreen, she justifies her liberated escapades as the result of the lack of real love or affection in her husband’s attitude towards her and his former French wife.

The Ecology of Nationalism and the Representation of Lower Castes in the Novel Tamas

The colonization of India had awful consequences on the lives of people as the nation was severely affected by problems like poverty, illiteracy, unhygienic and callous living producing, in addition to the already prevailing sociological and economic problems, environmental and conservational crisis, the root cause of which was to be found in the incessant exploitation of natural resources by the ruling European colonial powers in India. Resultantly, the Gandhian struggle for independence could not restrict itself merely to the primary objective of acquiring a politically independent statehood for India, but it had to keep on its agenda also problems of ecology, hygiene and conservation. The novel Tamas describes analogous labors made by the congress working committee volunteers in the Muslim area despite antagonism by the Muslim League workers. This ecology of nationalism, however, could not sustain long as the ecological purity of a mosque and a temple, in retaliatory action, was polluted by the perpetrators. The novel regularly, throughout the narrative, establishes a connection between the ideas of pureness and dirtiness and the consequential communal clashes in the city by showing how harmony and mutual veneration for each other’s community, the so-called ecology of nationalism and political unity, was thwarted by an error of Nathu, a member of the lower caste community. In a broad sense, the character of Nathu is presented representatively in a way to demonstrate how the act of a socially impure community was accountable for the fall of the ecology of Indian nationalism rather than the political desires and mistakes of leadership.

Capacity assessment of Nigeria for health emergencies preparedness and response

Introduction: Nigeria faces frequent natural and environmental disasters as well as violent conflicts including insurgency and communal clashes. Nigeria's public health challenges continue to grow—rapid population growth, increasing movement of people and destruction of infrastructure in the North East of Nigeria and outbreaks from new and re-emerging pathogens. Objective: We assessed the current status of Nigeria's public health emergencies preparedness and response in order to identify gaps and recommend appropriate measures to be put in place.

Deception in the era of digital technologies and the distortion of reality and facts: An X-Ray of Nigerian peculiarities

The phenomenal increase in the level of digital technologies has in no small measure enabled and opened new vista of possibilities that were hitherto inconceivable before the advent of these digital technologies. Indeed, this phenomenon has also increased the ‘crescendo’ of various seemingly impossible trends in the area of circulation of information in the globalised world in ways such as global rapid communication, unhindered and constant access to information, democratised production and dissemination of information and digital content, and the ability to coordinate global political activities or movements through several populist strategies and political antics employed by politicians. Currently, it is somewhat seemed intractable to separate truth from falsehood due to striking similarities in the appearance of the two. However, these phenomena have brought about untoward development resulting in the amplification of various forms of digital deceptions peddled on several digital devices. Like other countries, Nigeria, too, is battling with the rise in populism politics, fake news, ethnic nationalism (laden with ethnic jingoism), hate and dangerous speech and other kinds of digital deceptions, among others. The escalating herder-farmer communal clashes, ethno-religious crises in some states in Nigeria, a tsunami of misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19, as well as political tensions between the two dominant political parties (All Progressives Congress and People’s Democratic Party (PDP)), have been influenced by deceptions, untruths and political propaganda. Therefore, through extensive interaction with (and review of) both the extant and current literature, this paper: provides further insights into the evolving issues regarding deceptions, fake news, epistemic errors as well as democratic and social harms emanating from deceptions in the Nigerian polity. The methodology used in this paper involves a comprehensive but selective literature review conducted to locate papers (Journal articles and theses or dissertations) on the foregoing evolving issues. Also, literature related to each of the analyses of the trend of fake news and other forms of digital deceptions in the light of the emerging post-truth era and their potential impacts on the country is incorporated into the review. However, a conclusion is drawn from the findings while the paper recommends that curtailing the influence of digital deceptions and fake news on the body polity of Nigeria requires collective responsibility of all the stakeholders coupled with enhanced steps (which include but are not limited to: credibility, media skills, regulation, collaboration, media literacy, professionalism, gatekeeping, self-censorship as well as detection) towards fighting the menace and morbidity of digital deceptions in the country.

A historical review of state-building process in Afghanistan

This study is a historical review of state-building process in Afghanistan. The country’s contemporary history like other societies is perhaps defined by conflict, instability, and frequent changes of power. The situation is due tothe strategic position, the independent tribal structure, and the citsiugnil-larutluc groups it occupies. It was on the basis of the above oiranecs the study intends to study the various regimes and examine their efforts drawotcreating dna elbailer snoitutitsni tnednepedni capable of creating the desired results rof the general populace. Despite the fact that the country was ravaged with a myriadof problems,ranging from frequent and constant segnahc of government, religious and communal clashes, poor economy and inefficient public services and poor infrastructural facilities, and above all the corrupt attitudes of public officials.

Floods, communal conflict and the role of local state institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa

Does the occurrence of flood disaster increase the risk of communal conflict and if so, does trust in state political institutions mitigate the adverse effect? This study addresses these questions by studying the intervening effect of trust in local governmental institutions at a sub-national level. The effect of flood disasters on the risk of communal violence is expected to be contingent on peoples’ trust that local political structures are able to address potential disputes between groups. Violent conflicts, in that sense, are neither inevitable nor directly determined by the occurrence of disasters. They largely depend on the context of a given society and political response to these external shocks. To test this expectation, the study uses survey data on trust in local state institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa from the Afrobarometer (2005–2018), combined with geo-referenced communal conflict and flood data. In line with theoretical expectations, results suggest that flood disasters are associated with communal violence only for administrative districts that are governed by distrusted local state institutions. Conversely, flood disasters tend to be negatively associated with the risk of communal clashes in the presence of highly trusted local government councils and (especially) trusted judicial courts. Changing model specifications and estimation techniques produces similar results. An out-of-sample cross-validation also shows that accounting for political variables, in addition to flood disasters, improves the predictive performance of the model.

Forced Displacement and Agriculture: Implications for Host Communities

The disruptive effects of conflict and climate-related shocks and their tendencies to cause human population displacements are well documented in the literature. Given the growing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) worldwide and the resulting population and service demand overload in host communities, it is important to understand the socioeconomic impacts. Because many host communities in developing countries are agriculture dependent, we investigate what happens to key agricultural sector outcomes in host communities when there is an influx of IDPs. For displacements caused by insurgency, communal clashes, and natural disasters, we estimate the impacts on agricultural outputs, employment, wages, and land use. We find that forced displacements generally result in reduced agricultural production due to lower land and labor productivity. Specifically, while the effect of insurgency-driven IDP influx is negative, it is positive for communal violence. Cassava, potatoes, and soya are particularly hard hit. Additionally, while insurgency-driven population influx reduces the agricultural wages of both males and females, it increases the reliance on male and female household labor but has no effect on hired labor. Finally, while insurgency-driven IDP influx does not affect land use and land market activities, it lowers the expected value of land and the number of farm plots harvested. We highlight the opportunity to leverage humanitarian assistance in building local agricultural capacity in host communities.

Snakebite outbreak and associated risk factors in Donga, Taraba State, Nigeria, June, 2016.

Snakebite envenoming is a public health problem among rural communities in Nigeria. In June, 2016, an outbreak of snakebites in Donga Local Government Area, Taraba State, north-east Nigeria, was reported. We investigated the outbreak to identify risk factors for snakebites and to institute appropriate control measures. We conducted an unmatched case control study to identify risk factors for snakebite in the communities involved. We conducted key informant interviews and Focus Group Discussions with stakeholders in the communities to obtain information on the community´s perspective of the outbreak. There were Sixty-one (61) snakebite cases with Fifteen (15) deaths [CFR 24.6%]. Majority of the mortalities [37(60.3%)] were males. Median age was 27 years (Range: 5-58). Kadarko ward had the highest [26 (42.6%)] number of cases. Most snakebites 12 (44.4%) occurred in the farm, 27 (96.4%) vipers Echis spp were responsible for most of the bite and most [26 (92.9%)] victims sought care from traditional healers. Residing in Kadarko ward and having a history of snakebite in the past were risk factors [Odds ratio of 2.9 (95% CI 1.1-7.4) and 5.9 (95% CI 1.1-32.5)] respectively. Abandonment of homes for two years due to communal clashes has been thought to have allowed snake populations to grow. The snakebite outbreak in Donga, Taraba State affected predominantly male farmers in the rural wards. Residing in Kadarko ward and having a previous history of snakebite were risk factors.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION BY INDIVIDUAL TRANSFORMATION

There are many issues that most Nigerians have an agreement on. As a Contemporary Social Psychologist, one of these is that we want a better Nigeria. We need transformation in all our circumstances as a people and as a nation, to live in peace and unity for enduring economic development. This paper uses the theory of conflict by Karl Marx to interrogate how conflict resolution could be achieved through the process of individual transformation. All Nigerians are likely to agree that they want a peaceful, stable, and prosperous country. Nigerians as also aware of the reality of conflicts manifest in inter- communal clashes, ethnic rivalries, religious rivalries, and terrorism. While government often seek militarized approaches to conflict resolution, this paper, anchored on the belief that all conflicts are first personal before they become communal and national. The paper also proposes the deliberate education of the individual citizen on conflict resolution. The paper therefore examines types of conflicts, actors, conflict development in Nigeria and offers eighteen (18) conflict management approaches.

Profiling Internal Forced Migrants in North-Eastern Nigeria

The objective of this paper is to characterise internal forced migrants displaced in North Eastern part of Nigeria as the result of conflicts, and natural disasters. It was estimated that nearly 1.8 million out of the total of more than 2.1 million internally displaced people in Nigeria dwell in this region. Data obtained from the United Nations International Organisation for Migration (IOM, Nigeria), was used to attain the research’s goal using Geo-Information techniques (GIS analysis) and statistical analysis. Results revealed that 55 percent of internally displaced people are female while 45 percent are male; it also revealed that 60 percent of IDPs in Northeast Nigeria are dwelling in host communities, while the remaining 40 percent are found in formal and informal camps. The study also revealed that 99.9 percent of the migrants flee because of conflicts and communal clashes, while 0.1 percent escape due to natural disaster. It further revealed that the majority of IDPs were displaced in the year 2015 due to an increase in the number of conflicts and insurgent activities in the region. Finally, this research found that Borno state has the highest number of IDPs, formal and informal camps, and host community settlements.

Exploring the drivers of ethnic and religious exclusion from public services in Nigeria: implications for sustainable development goal 10

PurposeThe importance of social exclusion and the disadvantage experienced by many minority ethnic and religious populations are rooted in SDG 10. To address this exclusion effectively it is important to understand their key drivers. This paper aimed to establish the key drivers of exclusion and their outcomes in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThe methods involved a scoping review of literature and stakeholder workshops that focused on drivers of social exclusion of religious and ethnic minorities in public institutions.FindingsAt the macro level, the drivers include ineffective centralized federal State, competition for resources and power among groups, geographic developmental divide and socio-cultural/religious issues. At the meso-level are institutional rules and competition for resources, stereotypes and misconceptions, barriers to access and service provision. At the micro-level are socio-economic status and health-seeking behaviour. The perceived impact of social exclusion included increasing illiteracy, lack of employment, deteriorating health care services, increased social vices, communal clashes and insurgencies and vulnerability to exploitation and humiliation. These drivers must be taken into consideration in the development of interventions for preventing or reducing social exclusion of ethnic and religious minorities from public services.Originality/valueThis is a case of co-production by all the stakeholders and a novel way for the identification of drivers of social exclusion in public services in Nigeria. It is the first step towards solving the problem of exclusion and has implications for the achievement of SDG 10 in Nigeria.

Library and information services (LISs): A panacea for conflict resolution in Nigeria

Lack of adequate and proper information is fundamentally responsible for several threats to lives ranging from kidnapping, communal and tribal clashes, herdsmen and farmers clashes and insurgencies in general, all over Nigeria today. The thrust of this paper is at investigating the roles of Library and Information Services (LISs) in conflict resolution for peaceful co-existence in Nigeria. The paper is in the opinion that the aforementioned threats to lives can be curbed through Library & information services. Premised on these, the paper reflects on the vigorous roles LISs can play in resolving conflicts and in encouraging peace and security in different parts of the country. The paper also tries to identify some of the obstacles hindering libraries and information services in maximizing their full potentials in conflict resolution and the promotion of peaceful coexistence amongst communities in Nigeria. The paper considers the role of library and information services in conflict resolution as very crucial and concludes that any peaceful developmental efforts of the nation made in the absence of adequate information service delivery will be a chimera Keywords: Library, Information Services, Conflict, Conflict resolution, Peaceful co-existence.