From Muawuya Bala Idris, Katsina
A Non Government Organization (NGO) Community Initiative to Promote Peace has commenced training of youth and parents from Northwest and North Central in preventing violent extremism in communities.
The NGO described extremism as major step that encourage banditry and other violent activities by the youths.
According to the NGO, participants were selected from trouble local government areas to be equipped with skills and strategies for identifying sign and preventing violent extremism in children and young adults.
In a communique issued to newsmen by a Deputy Director National Orientation Agency (NOA) Muntari Lawal Tsagem at the end of three day training of youth and women, in Katsina State the participants of the training attributed current insecurity problem to illiteracy and decrease trust between communities and authorities.
The participants selected from Jibia, Safana, Katsina and Batsari Local government Areas observed that young women and men are increasingly vulnerable for use by criminal groups to bring them into their fold.
They stressed on the need for governments at all level to take necessary action in educating youth in the rural area through the integration of key information on the dangers of violent extremism and ways to prevent its spread in primary and secondary schools curriculum.
“They also called for urgent economic employment programme through skills acquisition in order to improve the living condition of people from rural areas”
“Youth must be engaged with gainful activities that will change them and prevent them from becoming easy targets for criminal elements”
The participants charged parent to live up to their role as behavior molders, emphasizing that parent should be observing movements of their children as a way of curtailing tendencies of radicalizing before escalating into violent extremism.
“Government should strengthen its mechanizing on early warning and response, especially in communities prone to attacks and be more responsive to the demands of people in desperate need for interventions”
The participants called on government to rise to the challenges of rampant sales and high consumption of drugs and deal decisively with people behind selling it to the youth.
