Peacebuilding, Transitional Justice, and State Reconstruction in Post-Conflict Communities in Benue and Plateau States

This study examines peacebuilding and transitional justice processes in communities recovering from recurrent inter-communal conflict in Benue and Plateau states, developing an original theoretical contribution to the understanding of hybrid peacebuilding in the context of ongoing low-intensity conflict cycles and institutional fragmentation. The peacebuilding literature has extensively theorised post-conflict reconstruction but has been less attentive to the challenge of building sustainable peace in contexts of chronic cyclical violence where conflict has not decisively ended but alternates between episodes of acute violence and fragile calm. Drawing on the hybrid peacebuilding theory, the transitional justice literature, and the political sociology of inter-communal conflict, the study develops an original analytical framework designated layered peace architecture that theorises how formal state-led, civil society-mediated, and community-based peacebuilding processes interact to produce durable or unstable peace outcomes in chronic conflict settings. The framework is operationalised through a comparative multi-site ethnographic study in eight conflict-affected communities in Benue and Plateau states, conducting sustained fieldwork including 94 in-depth interviews, participatory observation of peace meetings and reconciliation ceremonies, and documentary analysis of peace agreements. The study finds that sustainable peace in these settings requires the active alignment of all three institutional layers of peacebuilding activity, with misalignments between state-led security operations and community-level reconciliation efforts generating the most persistent peace deficits. Original contributions include the layered peace architecture framework and an empirically grounded community peace resilience index. Keywords: peacebuilding, transitional justice, inter-communal conflict, Benue State, Plateau State