The Yobe State Government, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has trained and empowered 300 Volunteer Security Outfits (VSOs) as part of ongoing efforts to stabilise communities affected by years of insurgency.
The beneficiaries, comprising men and women, completed a vocational skills acquisition and peacebuilding programme funded by the European Union to support reintegration and community resilience across the state.
Speaking during the presentation of startup kits and cash support, the Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr. Goje Muhammad, described the volunteers as frontline defenders who protected their communities during the peak of Boko Haram attacks.
Represented by the agency’s Director of Search and Rescue Operations, Dr. Ibrahim Jalo Muhammad, he said the empowerment initiative aims to strengthen stability by providing economic opportunities and sustainable livelihoods.
He noted that the volunteers, previously engaged in community protection roles, have now taken on a new mission of building their lives through vocational skills that will aid peaceful reintegration into civilian society.
According to him, the EU-funded project—implemented by UNDP in collaboration with the Yobe State Government and ANI—seeks to support reconciliation and reintegration of persons formerly associated with non-state armed groups, including volunteer security outfits.
Also speaking, UNDP Representative Malam Babagoni Muhammad said the beneficiaries were trained in five vocational areas: painting, POP design, charcoal briquette production, interlocking bricks production, solar installation, and aluminium pot fabrication.
He said the participants were drawn from Potiskum, Damaturu, and Gujba local government areas, adding that the programme aims to transform the volunteers from community defenders into economically empowered individuals capable of contributing to long-term peace and development.
