Abuja, 17th February 2026PRESS STATEMENT
3-Days Stakeholders Forum for Remapping of Conflicts, Interfaith Dialogue and Mediation for the Benue Valley.
The conflict situation in Benue and Nasarawa States in Nigeria’s North-Central region has significantly evolved and intensified in recent years. What were previously understood largely as farmer–herder disputes have transformed into more complex, violent, and increasingly organized forms of conflict. These conflicts now involve coordinated attacks on communities, destruction of homes and livelihoods, kidnappings, and the targeting of civilians and religious sites.
A particularly tragic example occurred in June 2025 in Yelewata community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, where attacks on Yelewata and Daudu villages resulted in the killing of dozens to over 200 civilians, the destruction of homes, and the displacement of many families. Incidents such as this highlight the urgent need to reassess the nature of the conflict and to strengthen mechanisms for dialogue, mediation, and peaceful coexistence among affected communities.
These developments demonstrate that previous conflict assessments no longer adequately reflect current realities. There is therefore an urgent need for an updated, evidence-based remapping of the conflict landscape, alongside strengthened interfaith dialogue and mediation efforts, to address the root causes of violence, rebuild trust, and prevent further escalation.
In response, the Foundation for Justice, Development and Peace (FJDP), Makurdi, in collaboration with the German Catholic Bishops’ Organisation for Development Cooperation Misereor, is implementing this initiative under the Strengthening Community Resilience (SCORE) Programme. The SCORE Programme aims to reduce violent conflicts between smallholder farmers and pastoralists and to promote peaceful coexistence in Benue and Nasarawa States.
A central pillar of the SCORE Programme is the promotion of peacebuilding by bringing together religious leaders, traditional authorities, and community stakeholders, the programme fosters mutual understanding, counters harmful narratives, and strengthens community-based peace structures. Religious and traditional leaders play a critical role as trusted voices within their communities, and empowering them with mediation skills helps to prevent violence, promote reconciliation, and support early conflict resolution.
The programme also strengthens cross-boundary security cooperation and early warning and response systems, which have shown positive results in enabling timely interventions. In addition, SCORE supports dialogue platforms, stakeholder coordination, and livelihood resilience initiatives for farmers and pastoralists, while promoting cross-community socio-cultural and economic engagement as a foundation for sustainable peace.
In Benue State, the government has instituted a Durable Solutions Strategy which aims to return Internal Displaced People (IDPs) to their ancestral homes. This strategy recognizes the imperative of huge and balanced investment in Humanitarian Peace and Development (HPD) Nexus. While significant progress has been made in delivering Humanitarian interventions and the Development component is being given consideration, Peacebuilding has continued to receive limited support. Acknowledging that peaceful and stable communities are a sine qua non to anticipated return and reintegration, resilience building efforts remain central. This is why the SCORE Programme is central in supporting this durable solutions process. Achieving sustainable Peace however requires tailoring interventions to evolving trends and dynamics of the conflict situation while building capacity of local actors in the use of non-adversarial means to manage conflicts as well as fostering inter religious and Interfaith collaboration which makes the Remapping of Conflicts, Interfaith Dialogue, and Mediation initiative not only timely but strategic in driving this desired social change.
A three-day stakeholder dialogue, conflict remapping, and mediation capacity-building forum will be convened in Abuja in collaboration with the Dialogue and Partnership Service Misereor and with the support of the Austrian Embassy. The forum will bring together representatives from government institutions, security agencies, farmer and herder associations, peace and boundary commissions, as well as traditional and religious leaders from affected Local Government Areas in Benue and Nasarawa States.
The forum will specifically aim to:
• Remap and develop a shared, evidence-based understanding of evolving conflict dynamics
• Strengthen interfaith dialogue and collaboration among religious leaders and community stakeholders
• Enhance the capacity of key actors in mediation, conflict prevention, and peaceful dispute resolution
The forum will provide a neutral and safe space for open dialogue, reflection, and joint problem-solving. Through strengthened interfaith engagement, mediation capacity, and evidence-based conflict analysis, the initiative seeks to rebuild trust, promote reconciliation, and contribute to sustainable peace, social cohesion, and human security in one of Nigeria’s most conflict-affected regions.
