EFFURUN/Nigeria: The One Love Community Development Foundation has trained 40 community-based Election Peace Monitors in Delta State as part of efforts to strengthen early warning mechanisms and prevent violence before, during and after the 2027 general elections.
The capacity-building exercise, organised with support from the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND), took place at Casa De Pedro Hotel Annex, Effurun, and brought together selected participants from eight local government areas identified as areas requiring increased attention to electoral peace and security.
The participating local government areas are Uvwie, Udu, Ughelli South, Ughelli North, Warri South, Warri North, Warri South West and Ethiope East.
The training was designed to equip the monitors with practical skills for identifying, documenting and reporting early signs of electoral tension and other developments capable of threatening peaceful political activities.
A major component of the exercise focused on PIND’s Integrated Multi-Channel Conflict Early Warning System, with Professor Andrew Agboro leading sessions on its operational application.
Participants were also introduced to the PIND EWER Mobile App, alongside SMS and Speech-to-Text reporting platforms, to facilitate the timely transmission of information from their respective communities.
The platforms are intended to enable monitors to document incidents and emerging threats across the pre-election, election-day and post-election periods, providing information that can support early intervention and conflict prevention.
The organisers also adopted an inclusive approach to the selection and participation of monitors, bringing together representatives of the Civil Society Network, persons with disabilities, youth organisations, women leaders, media representatives, security agencies and community President Generals.
The involvement of these groups is expected to strengthen community ownership of the initiative, improve information sharing and encourage cooperation among stakeholders with different responsibilities in maintaining peace.
Speaking on the importance of the programme, the Foundation’s Peacebuilding Manager said preventing electoral violence required effective collaboration between community structures, security institutions and technology-based reporting systems.
The manager explained that bringing different stakeholders together would help establish a more dependable framework for identifying potential conflict triggers and responding to them before they escalated.
The practical sessions also featured simulation exercises on conflict mediation and conflict-sensitive reporting.
Participants were guided on the need to verify information, report incidents responsibly and avoid communications that could spread rumours, create unnecessary panic or aggravate existing tensions.
The Foundation said the initiative was non-partisan and focused exclusively on protecting lives, promoting peaceful civic participation and creating safer communities throughout the electoral period.
It added that the trained monitors would serve as community-based peacebuilding resources, supporting efforts to identify emerging threats and encourage peaceful engagement among residents and political stakeholders.
The initiative underscores the importance of community participation, credible information and timely intervention in preventing electoral violence, particularly in areas where local tensions could undermine the conduct of peaceful elections.
