Religious Education for the Deescalation of Communal Conflicts in Boki Land, Nigeria

Abstract

Within the last half century, several communities in Boki Land have engaged in violent conflicts as a result of disputes over portions of land that have claimed many lives, and left many more injured. The Boki people, like most rural African peoples, depend largely on the land for their livelihood and economic development. Thus, any encroachment on their land space provokes outrage and resistance. The frequent occurrence of violent conflicts in Boki Land, and many Nigerian/African communities, is a social, as well as pastoral, problem. This article is, therefore, an interdisciplinary study, exploring how the church, the Boki people, the government, and nongovernment institutions can together respond to situations of conflict. A religious educational approach in developing peacebuilding mechanisms aimed at addressing the root causes of communal conflicts is proposed incorporating the Boki traditional system of justice and dispute settlement.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cyril Obi Bayim

Cyril Obi Bayim is Associate Pastor at the Church of Saint Raphael in East Meadow, New York. E-mail: [email protected]