SPECIAL REPORT: In Kaduna, community peacebuilding offers way to stop disputes from becoming violent

When two young people began arguing during a community activity in Kaduna, Mistura Hussain did not immediately try to determine who was right. Instead, the 18-year-old

Kaduna State University student listened to both sides, let them explain what had happened, and tried to keep the disagreement from becoming personal.

The argument eventually ended without a fight.

For Ms Hussain, the incident was a practical test of something she had learnt during a peacebuilding training organised by the Muslim Peace Network (MPN): that a disagreement does not have to become a conflict, and a conflict does not have to become violent.

“Before, we would argue over simple conversations, and it could become personal,” she said.

That kind of intervention may appear small, but in Kaduna State, where disputes over land, political interests, resources, identity and religion have repeatedly contributed to wider violence, peacebuilding organisations argue that preventing escalation can begin with how people handle seemingly ordinary disagreements.

Nigeria has for decades struggled with communal, ethnic and religious conflicts that have claimed lives, displaced families and deepened mistrust between communities. A report by the International Crisis Group identified political manipulation, poverty, unemployment, and ethnic and religious rivalries among factors that have fuelled conflicts in northern Nigeria. Kaduna has also experienced repeated interreligious violence linked to political, land and historical tensions, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The scale of violence remains significant. Between January 2024 and August 2025, the European Union Agency for Asylum, citing ACLED data, recorded 475 security incidents in Kaduna resulting in 951 fatalities. The incidents included violence against civilians, battles, riots, and explosions or remote violence.

But some of Kaduna’s worst episodes also show how a dispute over a specific issue can take on wider ethnic or religious meanings.

In 1992, for example, a dispute over the relocation of a market in Zangon-Kataf escalated into violent confrontations between Hausa and Atyap communities. Rotimi T. Suberu, a Nigerian political scientist and scholar of ethnic conflict, documented the crisis in his work on ethnic minority conflicts in Nigeria. According to his account, based on official estimates, 95 people were killed, 252 were injured, while 133 houses and 26 farmlands were destroyed. The violence later spread to other parts of Kaduna State.

A dispute over a market did not remain a dispute over a market.

Human Rights Watch later noted that the 1992 crisis was initially sparked by disagreement over the relocation of the market before the violence took on wider ethnic and religious dimensions.

The lesson is one that peacebuilding practitioners say remains relevant: disagreements can become more dangerous when they are interpreted through existing community divisions, rumours and mistrust.

That possibility remains a concern in communities such as Kakuri in Kaduna South Local Government Area, which has previously been identified as a Kaduna community where religious and other tensions could become flashpoints.

But Kakuri was not defined solely by conflict.

According to Hussain Makanjuola, Executive Director of MPN, Muslim and Christian youths in the community had been playing football together as part of efforts to strengthen their relationships.

Mr Makanjuola said those relationships were tested after anger spread following the killing of Deborah Samuel, a Christian student who was beaten and burned to death by fellow students at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto State on May 12, 2022. She had criticised classmates for posting Islamic religious messages in a WhatsApp group meant for academic discussions, with some students interpreting her comments about Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous.

He added that the incident became a source of anger among some Christian youths in Kakuri, who began retaliating against Muslim youths, and three people were killed before security personnel intervened.

The episode showed how a disagreement or misunderstanding, even when it begins outside a community, can quickly deepen existing tensions and threaten relationships within it, Mr Makanjuola noted. It also highlighted why peacebuilding efforts that build trust, communication and relationships before a crisis can help communities manage tensions and prevent disagreements from escalating into violence.

In another case, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP-Nigeria) reported that a Community-Based Reconciliation Committee in Kakuri helped resolve a feud between two families after the disagreement became serious enough to involve security authorities. The families eventually reconciled following mediation.

These experiences point to the space community peacebuilding seeks to occupy: helping people recognise tensions, open dialogue and resolve disagreements before they acquire wider religious or communal meanings.

Building relationships before conflict 

Against this background, MPN has spent the past several years working with young people, religious leaders, women and community leaders in Kaduna.

Established in 2020 and based in Kaduna, the organisation uses peace education, interfaith dialogue, community mediation, and grassroots engagement to encourage residents, students, and religious, community, and traditional leaders to address disagreements before they develop into violence.

Its activities include the Community Initiatives to Promote Peace (CIPP), Peace Clubs in schools and a network of Community Peace Officers operating across six local government areas.

The organisation’s work is not limited to telling participants to “live in peace”. It focuses on building trust and giving people the confidence to address problems before they become sources of wider tension.

During its workshops, participants learn conflict prevention, tolerance, communication, and peaceful problem-solving. They learn to listen to opposing views, express their concerns without blaming others, and work with people from different religious and social backgrounds.

Some sessions use practical group exercises in which participants encounter disagreements and are expected to resolve them through discussion rather than confrontation. The exercises allow participants to practise the communication and problem-solving skills they may need when disagreements arise outside the training.

Between 2021 and 2025, MPN said its Peace Education programme reached more than 3,700 students in seven private schools in Kaduna, where it established Peace Clubs. The organisation also said its Community Initiatives to Promote Peace programme reached about 10 communities.

The Peace Clubs give students a space to discuss differences, learn communication and conflict-resolution skills, and interact with students from backgrounds different from their own.

Rather than learning about religious tolerance only as an idea, students are encouraged to practise listening, communicating, and working with people whose religious identities may differ from theirs.

MPN has also worked with religious teachers and community leaders.

In January 2023, the organisation organised a training for Arabic and Islamic teachers in Kaduna on peacebuilding and preventing religious extremism in schools.

Mr Makanjuola said MPN conducted 12 training workshops between 2021 and 2025 on different areas of peacebuilding, including sensitisation of religious and community leaders, women and youth engagement, and conflict prevention, adding that more than 600 people were trained.

The organisation’s Community Peace Officers operate across Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Chikun, Kagarko, Zaria and Igabi local government areas, serving as community-based contacts who can identify tensions, encourage dialogue and connect disputing parties with people who can intervene.

The idea is simple: intervene while a disagreement is still small.

From lessons to everyday relationships 

The changes MPN is trying to encourage are not only about settling disputes when they occur. They are also about making it easier for people to interact before a crisis happens.

Maryam Ahmed, a 17-year-old Muslim student at Malika International School, said the peace education activities changed the way she interacted with students from other religious backgrounds.

Her experience points to another aspect of peacebuilding: reducing the distance that can exist between young people because of religious identity. Instead of approaching students from another faith mainly through assumptions about their religion, the activities gave her opportunities to interact with them directly and build relationships through shared experiences.

Other participants similarly described becoming more comfortable communicating with people from different faiths and backgrounds.

A 26-year-old Christian student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Monica Ishaya said the MPN training changed her perception of people from another religion, allowing her to see them as friends rather than as people defined by religious differences.

“I became more confident interacting with people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds,” she said.

Mariya Ahmed Tijjani, an MPN official who first participated in the organisation’s activities as a beneficiary before joining its staff, said dialogue challenged some of the assumptions she had about people from other religious backgrounds.

She said her experience showed her that people could disagree on religion and still maintain friendships and work together.

The approach extends beyond students.

MPN also engages religious and community leaders to help address misunderstandings, encourage dialogue, and use their influence within their communities to prevent disagreements from becoming wider religious or communal disputes.

Misbahudeen Muhammad Raji, an Imam (a Muslim religious leader) with the Nasirudeen Society of Kaduna State who has participated in MPN activities, said religious misunderstanding, ignorance and inflammatory interests could contribute to tension.

He recalled intervening when two motorcycle riders from different religious backgrounds exchanged abusive words in Rumi. Rather than letting the disagreement become a religious issue, he brought the parties together, encouraged them to listen to each other, and helped settle the matter.

In Chikun, Christian women’s leader Anna Yakub also recalled an incident in which a disagreement between community members began to create tension along religious lines. She said community members intervened, brought those involved together and opened a dialogue before the disagreement could escalate.

The examples illustrate how the lessons from peacebuilding activities can move beyond training rooms into everyday disputes in communities.

John Akor, senior pastor (a Christian church leader) of God’s Love Auditorium Church in Kaduna and a facilitator in some of MPN’s programmes, said religious leaders could play an important role because of the influence they have over their congregations.

Their involvement means peacebuilding is not confined to workshops. Participants can take the lessons into places where disagreements occur, including schools, religious spaces, families and neighbourhoods.

The approach is also consistent with the wider experience of peacebuilding organisations in northern Nigeria. A USAID evaluation of an interfaith peacebuilding programme found that training, dialogue and joint activities created opportunities for Muslims and Christians to interact, build relationships and improve perceptions of one another.

More recently, the United Nations reported that an Early Warning and Early Response system operating in Kaduna and Katsina had recorded 126 cases since its launch in August 2023, with 53 cases resolved within three months. The system relies on local collaboration to identify and respond to tensions before they develop into larger conflicts. The United Nations said the mechanism had also strengthened communities’ and local government peace committees’ ability to detect and respond to potential conflicts at an early stage.

The experience of AbdulPatai Adekunle Badmus, an official of the Interfaith Mediation Centre who attended some MPN workshops, offers another indication of how such interventions can influence behaviour.

Mr Badmus recalled a young participant from one of the organisation’s Peace Clubs who initially had little interaction with Muslim students but later became more comfortable around them and formed friendships.

Such changes matter because peacebuilding is not only about what happens when violence has already started. It is also about changing how people relate to one another before a crisis occurs.

Mr Badmus said the effects of such work can become more visible over time as participants carry the relationships and attitudes they develop into their schools, homes and communities.

Samson Auta, a conflict resolution expert and co-executive director of the Interfaith Mediation Centre, said community peacebuilding could strengthen the ability of people to identify tensions, communicate across differences and seek mediation before disputes become violent.

He explained that conflicts were often shaped by several factors, making it important for communities to have people who understand how to recognise tensions and respond early.

Mr Auta said MPN’s peacebuilding activities showed how conflict could be mitigated at the community level, but achieving stronger, longer-lasting results would require long-term commitment rather than short-term interventions.

Similarly, Obi Onyeigwe, an independent peacebuilding expert, said effective peacebuilding programmes could build relationships that continue beyond a single workshop, particularly when communities take ownership of mechanisms for resolving their own problems.

Beyond the work, resources remain a challenge 

While MPN has expanded its peacebuilding activities across schools and communities, limited resources have made it difficult for the organisation to reach everyone who could benefit.

The organisation said it has continued some of its peacebuilding activities with limited funding, relying on partnerships and the commitment of community members and volunteers.

The challenge became particularly clear when the Kaduna State Ministry of Education approached the organisation about expanding its Peace Clubs in public schools across the state. The request raised the possibility of taking the peace education model beyond the seven private schools where the organisation had established Peace Clubs.

But MPN could not extend the programme to all public schools because it lacked the resources required for such an expansion.

The organisation has so far established Peace Clubs in seven private schools and reached more than 3,700 students through its Peace Education programme. Extending the model to hundreds of public schools would require additional funding, personnel and sustained support.

The same constraint affects its work with Community Peace Officers and community leaders, limiting how far the organisation can extend activities that depend heavily on local presence and regular engagement.

Community peacebuilding cannot replace security operations or address all the economic and political causes of violence.

But for the people participating in these programmes, the ability to recognise tension, listen to opposing views and intervene before a disagreement becomes a larger confrontation offers another layer of protection.

For Mistura Hussain, the lesson is now part of how she approaches disagreements. What once might have looked like a confrontation can now be an opportunity to listen.

And in communities where a small quarrel can sometimes acquire a much larger meaning, that change may begin with something as simple as learning that disagreement does not have to end in violence.

This reporting was produced under the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) SAIL+ Programme Fellowship.