The Shehu of Borno His Royal Majesty Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al'amin Elkenemi, has pledged his support for the promotion of Reconciliation, Reintegration, and Transitional Justice in the North East, saying if well implemented the programme could bring succour to his people who have suffered the harrowing effect of insurgency.
The Shehu made this pledge while playing host to the Executive Secretary National Human Rights Commission NHRC, Tony Ojukwu Esq and his team during a courtesy visit to the royal father in his palace in Maiduguri, ahead of the Entry Dialogue and Stakeholders’ Consultative Workshop on Reconciliation, Reintegration and Transitional Justice in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe State, put together by the NHRC with the support of the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme UNDP.
The royal father expressed delight and appreciated the Commission and its partners for the wonderful initiative geared towards peace building as he used the opportunity of the visit to commend the Executive Governor of Borno State Prof. Umara Zulum, for the efforts put in place to improve the security situation and rebuilding destroyed Communities in the State.
Earlier in his remarks the Executive Secretary said the Commission is working assiduously with relevant stakeholders including religious and traditional institutions to deepen reconciliation, peace and development in the North East through transitional justice.
Ojukwu who expressed concern over the devastating effect of the insurgency said “we want to tackle issues little by little to prevent them from escalating into major problems”. He stated that “the project intends to penetrate the local communities that are worst hit in the region, in order to interact with the community leaders to see how we can reconcile victims and perpetrators to prevent further destructions of lives and properties as well avoid situations of further displacements”.
According to the NHRC boss, it is difficult for victims of insurgency to accept the kind of heinous human rights violations meted on them and their loved ones. “Although the road to forgiveness is long and rough, we are determined and optimistic to achieve the purpose of this project, in order to have a peaceful and egalitarian society” Ojukwu maintained.
Continuing, he said the purpose of the visit was to seek the blessings of his Royal Majesty in the implementation of the project on Promoting Reconciliation, Reintegration and Transitional Justice in the badly affected communities of the epicenter of insurgency. The entry dialogue is scheduled to take place in Maiduguri with participants drawn from the three project states.
