…Insists on women’s rights of inheritance.
by Achadu Gabriel, Kaduna
Traditional leaders in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State have been trained on ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ (ADR), restorative justice and human rights protection.
The one-day step-down training held on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, at the Esu Chikun Palace, Ungwar Boro, was organized by the Interfaith Mediation Centre (IMC), Kaduna, with support from the German Embassy Abuja.
The training is under the project, ‘Strengthening Women Interfaith Leadership for Human Rights Protection for Transitional Justice, and Promoting Democratic Stability in Kaduna State.’
Facilitated by Barr Sarah Kajere Peters and Her Lordship, Maryam Abbas, a Senior Magistrate with the Kaduna State Judiciary, the training was aimed at building institutional capacity at the grassroots and strengthening the role of traditional rulers as custodians of peace and communal cohesion.
Participants were trained on mediation, arbitration, negotiation, restorative-versus-retributive justice, integrating human rights frameworks and safeguarding women’s rights through interfaith collaboration.
The sessions also featured scriptural reflections on justice, role-play scenarios on land disputes and women’s inheritance rights, and development of Community Action Plans, including setting-up of Peace Desks at the palace, and incident tracking.
Speaking after the training, the Esu Chikun, His Royal Highness Ishaku Yari, JP, SA- Gbagyi II, commended the organizers, saying the training addresses challenges facing the community, and vowed to take action against gender-based violence in his domain.
“I will not allow people to beat their wives and even people that are doing raping. If somebody goes and rapes a small girl of 10 years, 12 years, I will not leave them. I will take action,” the monarch said.
He said cases of rape and other criminal matters are not under traditional authority, and must be reported to the police and court.
“Anyone that settles this matter should be taken to the Police Station. That issue is not ours,” he said, adding that he would write to churches, mosques, villages and districts to enforce the directive.
Facilitator, Her Lordship, Maryam Abbas, said the training was informed by the need for communities to resolve disputes without recourse to conventional courts through ADR.
“People’s problems are resolved in their communities. What we want them to know is the way and manner problems will be resolved without making reference to the courts, and that is why we introduce alternative dispute resolution,” she said.
She explained that, while neighbour fighting and minor disputes can be resolved through ADR, capital offences like rape, armed robbery and kidnapping cannot.
She advised traditional leaders to make referrals to the Legal Aid Council for indigent persons and to FIDA, Federation of Women Lawyers, for cases involving women and children.
Also speaking, Program Official for the German Project, Dorcas M. Nyulaku, said the project seeks to promote women’s involvement in decision-making and conflict resolution.
“We want to go back to the times where not everybody should go to the conventional courts, because some people cannot afford lawyer or court fees. Alternative dispute resolution is a win-win case where they can sit down together with their community members and resolve conflicts,” she said.
She said the expected outcome is for the trained traditional leaders to step down the knowledge to ward heads, village heads and other community members to promote peace and democratic stability.
Facilitators, including Samson Auta of IMC Kaduna representatives, District Heads, women leaders, and other traditional rulers from across Chikun Chiefdom present at the training, debated and asked contending questions on salient issues bothering them and made valuable contributions during the session.
Ultimately, participants were adequately reminded that women are equal to the men, and have the full right of inheritance of their husbands’ property, according to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and should be accepted and accorded the rights.