2027: Youths To Monitor Electoral Violence In Rivers

Youths trained as election peace monitors in Rivers State have pledged to deploy their knowledge of conflict resolution, election monitoring and early warning mechanisms to prevent electoral violence ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The participants, drawn from eight local government areas identified as electoral violence hotspots, said the training had equipped them with skills to identify potential conflicts, gather credible information and report threats to relevant authorities before they escalated.

The 40 youths, five from each of the eight local government areas, were trained and inaugurated by the Community Resource Development Foundation (CREDEF), with technical support from the Partnership Initiative for the Niger Delta (PIND), during a programme in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.

The participating local government areas are Port Harcourt City, Obio/Akpor, Khana, Ikwerre, Emohua, Okrika, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni and Oyigbo.

Speaking after the training, Gift Meluubari, Project Coordinator of Voices for Change and a peace monitor from Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, said the programme had broadened her understanding of conflict and the need to address its underlying causes rather than allowing disagreements to escalate.

She said one of the major lessons she would take back to her community was the importance of dialogue, conflict resolution and reconciliation.

“It made me understand that conflict can be intra, it can be personal, it can also be extended to others around,” she said.

“One key thing I would take to my local government today is we should find a better way to resolve conflict. We should not just look at the surface but we should look deep and we should make restitutions.”

Meluubari urged political and community stakeholders to embrace peaceful engagement, warning that violence would benefit nobody.

She also cautioned against the use of vote-buying to manipulate voters and create political tensions, calling for an electoral process in which citizens could make choices without inducement.

Another participant, Kemka Emenike, said the training had provided him with practical knowledge in peacemaking, election monitoring, data collection and analysis, as well as personal security while reporting incidents.

He said the ability to gather and communicate credible information would distinguish the trained monitors from other members of their communities and enable them to contribute meaningfully to electoral peace.

“The major part that distinguishes us is knowledge. I have the knowledge. I’ve been trained and they are not trained,” he said.

“I’ve been trained on how to secure myself while reporting effectively and what my information, given as data, can do for the peace of the nation and society at large.”

Emenike expressed the hope that the 2027 elections would produce leaders capable of managing Rivers State’s resources for the benefit of its people, particularly young people struggling with unemployment.

The participants’ commitment comes amid concerns over the potential for political disagreements, misinformation and the manipulation of young people to undermine peaceful elections.

Executive Director of CREDEF, Dr Franklin Owaribo, said the 40 monitors were selected from the eight local government areas following research indicating that they had recorded high levels of electoral violence in previous elections.

He explained that CREDEF was part of a four-organisation consortium led by PIND Foundation working to promote electoral peace in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Delta states, with his organisation coordinating activities in Rivers.

Owaribo said the monitors would gather information before, during and after the 2027 elections and transmit it to relevant authorities for timely intervention.

“The essence of bringing this together is actually to train peace monitors, people who will ensure that they get real-time information before, during, and after the 2027 elections,” he said.

“We need information to be able to act proactively, and this information is going to be dependent upon people who are getting real-time data from the field.”

He described the 40 participants as ambassadors who would serve as links between their communities and authorities responsible for responding to electoral threats.

“These 40 people have become our ambassadors in the field to get information that can be cascaded to relevant authorities that will respond effectively to the violence,” he added.

The initiative is part of efforts by civil society organisations to strengthen community-based early warning systems and improve collaboration with security agencies in preventing electoral violence in the Niger Delta.

The monitors are expected to apply their training in their respective local government areas, with the effectiveness of the intervention depending on their ability to provide credible information and the responsiveness of relevant authorities to reported threats.