Major General Maxwell Dangana, the Commander of the Special Task Force, Operation Enduring Peace (JTF-OPEP), has called on residents of Plateau to embrace unity, reconciliation and dialogue towards promoting lasting peace in the state.
Dangana said this at the opening of the 6th edition of the football tournament it organised on Saturday in Jos.
Dangana is also the General Officer Commanding, 3 Division of the Nigerian Army, Rukuba, near Jos.
The commander noted that lasting peace would largely be achieved by building trust, inclusion and proper community engagement.
“Security is not achieved by kinetic operations alone.
“While the military and other security agencies have the responsibility to respond to threats and protect lives and property, lasting peace cannot be secured solely through the use of force.
“Sustainable peace requires dialogue, reconciliation, trust, inclusion and meaningful engagement with communities.
“It requires us to address the conditions that create suspicion, fear and division before they escalate into violence,”he said.
The commander said that the football tournament, which brought together 32 teams, aimed at promoting lasting peace in communities.
“Initiatives such as this tournament are important at this time that Plateau is in dire need of sustainable peace.
“Football provides a non-kinetic avenue for peacebuilding; it brings people together in an environment where competition replaces confrontation, teamwork replaces suspicion and friendship replaces division.
“When young people from different ethnic, religious and community backgrounds sit together, train together, compete against one another and celebrate together, they begin to see one another beyond the labels that sometimes divide us,”he added.
Dangana, particularly called on young people in the state to eschew violence and embrace initiatives that would breed lasting peace and tranquility in the state.
He also called on residents of the state to support the military and other security agencies in their bid towards a peaceful and varile Plateau.
