Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has debunked the report making the rounds titled: “UN report reveals 24 terror cells in Katsina, names leaders” published in a national daily.
A statement issued by the CDD management and made available to LEADERSHIP stated that the content of the report published should be understood as the opinion of the publisher and does not accurately represent the position of CDD and its partners involved in the research, training initiatives, and programmes.
Explaining that the article was published following CDD’s journalists’ training held in Katsina on the 16th and 17th of January 2024 whereby the CDD sought to enhance the capacity of journalists in advocating for transitional justice as a means of moving away from the kinetic approach to one of reconciliation, resolution, and peacebuilding.
It added that the project was implemented in collaboration with the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and Mercy Corps, CDD, and carried out research between September and October 2023 on transitional justice in the state, focusing on community perception assessment implementation strategy, conflict mitigation and community reconciliation in the Northwest.
According to the statement, the study was completed and its findings were duly validated at various programmes in Katsina State.
“The content of this validated research is not reflected in the recent report published on January 24, 2024, by The SUN newspaper. Also, the headline of The Sun publication was used out of context and there was nowhere such a tantalizing statement appeared in CDD’s 175-page draft report.
“Therefore, the Centre for Democracy and Development West Africa (CDD) unequivocally and strongly disassociates itself from the aforementioned newspaper article and clarifies that the statements therein do not reflect the views of CDD or the objectives of the journalists’ training in Katsina which the SUN correspondent seems to be referencing.
“Since the initiation of the Conflict Mitigation and Community Reconciliation project in Katsina State in March 2023, CDD has undertaken various activities, including organizing three training sessions for 20 journalists”, the statement said.
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