Centre trains 200 Islamic clerics on counter-radicalisation

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) is to train 200 Islamic Clerics in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe on how to counter radicalisation messages by the Boko Haram insurgents.

Speaking to newsmen Friday at the training organised for some of the clerics in Adamawa, the Project Coordinator, Mr Ikponmwosa Omoigiade, said that the project being executed by CDD was sponsored by the Japanese Government through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Omoigiade said that the training which was part of a bigger project on de-radicalisation, counter-terrorism and migration in Northern Nigeria had already been conducted for some of the clerics in Borno and Yobe.

He said the clerics who comprised Imams, scholars and proprietors of Almajiri schools, were trained on how to identify and contain Boko Haram ideologies and violent extremism in their communities with the aid of a manual by clerics from Islamic Da’awah Centre and Arabic teachers from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.

The coordinator lauded the commitment shown by the clerics, adding that the centre would do an assessment on impact of the project in the affected states.

Some of the participants who spoke on the programme described it as a welcome development that would assist in countering extremism and propagation of the peaceful nature of Islam.

They said Prophet Muhammad (SAW) cherished peaceful coexistence among and between muslims and non-muslims and viewed non-Muslims as people who should be attracted to Islam instead of being terrorised.