Across Kaduna State, peacebuilding initiatives are helping young people and communities build relationships, resolve disagreements, and respond to tensions before they escalate into violence.
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
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.
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.
