Today Vice President @ProfOsinbajo presided over a meeting …

The Council recommitted to the following principles:

1. The protection of all residents of all States, including non-indigenous communities and religious and ethnic minorities within State jurisdictions;

2. The arrest and prosecution of all perpetrators of crime;

3. In collaboration with federal authorities, the reconstruction of destroyed homes and payment of compensation where appropriate by State authorities for damage to property and livelihoods sustained during targeted attacks on communities within their jurisdictions;

4. Ensuring that deceased victims of such violence are duly accorded dignified burial rites;

5. The immediate public and unequivocal condemnation of all manifestations of hatred, targeted violence, and other hate crimes against ethnic, religious, and minority groups;

6. Ensuring that local security initiatives—whether State Govt law enforcement agencies/local vigilante groups/ @PoliceNG Community Policing programme—are inclusive & composed with due consideration given to adequate representation of non-indigenous/minority resident communities;

7. Ensuring that all State, local and communal security initiatives operate according to guidelines consistent with State legislation and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other relevant laws and are subjected to rigorous oversight;

8. Ensuring that innocent citizens and entire communities are not slandered, harassed or victimized for the crimes perpetrated by criminal elements within those communities on the basis of ethnic or religious affiliation.

9. The continued organization of and participation in town hall meetings in the localities where ethnic strife has taken place by Governors representing all geopolitical zones.

10. That State Governments have statutory jurisdiction over forest reserves and will seek federal support for efforts to eradicate forest-based crime. (Council deliberated on how forests should be better managed and secured against criminals and criminality.)

11. That the National Livestock Transformation Plan is a comprehensive strategy for addressing the farmer-herder conflict developed by the States in collaboration with the Federal Government and Governors will seek its full implementation.

11. (Cont’d) (States are encouraged to promote modernization of livestock and Council, therefore, called for the strengthening of the National Livestock Transformation Plan.)

12. The strengthening of border controls to discourage cross-border crimes and the effective observation of ECOWAS Transhumance protocols.