Safety and Resilience
April 29, 2026
By Rommy Mom
With its lush green farmland, my home state of Benue has long been known as Nigeria’s “food basket.” Now it is becoming known for a new model of public safety developed by our communities. We believe it can help break a yearslong cycle of conflict and insecurity that has taken thousands of lives, displaced communities, disrupted livelihoods, and strained our trust in institutions.The roots of the conflicts in Benue are multifaceted and include environmental factors: deforestation in northern Nigeria has pushed nomadic herders south into our communities in search of surviving grass. When disputes broke out between herders and farmers over destroyed crops, the lack of trusted, reliable policing allowed armed groups to exploit the tension.This conflict has touched every part of our lives. We have lost thousands of our community members. In some areas, agricultural output has fallen by 70 percent as farms have been abandoned. Markets have closed; schools have been shuttered. The state’s response to attacks has been insufficient: temporarily send in troops, then place survivors into under-resourced displacement camps, where more than half a million people remain today.In Benue, we’ve understood that lasting safety could not be achieved by force alone. Rather than give in to fear, neighbors in Benue are building a new model of public safety based on mutual trust, partnership, and accountability. People-Centered Safety in Action
