Main Article Content
Abstract
This article examines the role of Christian Religious Studies (CRS) in promoting peace and conflict resolution in the Eha-Amufu communities of Isi-Uzo Local Government Area, Enugu State, Nigeria. Eha-Amufu, an agrarian border cluster adjoining Benue and Ebonyi States, has experienced layered conflicts: nineteenth-century boundary wars, Civil War displacement, the 2006 Christian–traditionalist confrontations associated with the destruction of Odo and Omaba shrines, internal leadership and land disputes, and recurrent farmer–herder violence that peaked between 2020 and 2022. Drawing on Galtung's distinction between negative and positive peace, Lederach's conflict-transformation framework, and Nigerian curriculum policy, the study employs qualitative documentary analysis of NERDC CRS objectives, peer-reviewed research on religious education and peacebuilding, historical studies of Eha-Amufu, and contemporaneous reportage. Findings indicate that CRS, as specified in national policy, is explicitly mandated to instil tolerance, reconciliation, non-violence, and respect for human life. Churches, the Anglican Diocese of Eha-Amufu, the Federal College of Education, Eha-Amufu, and community Christian associations have at times mediated local disputes and preached reconciliation. However, confessional pedagogy, aggressive evangelism, weak interreligious content, politicisation of insecurity, and the structural character of farmer–herder and boundary conflicts limit what classroom CRS can achieve unaided. The article argues that CRS is a necessary but insufficient instrument of peace. It recommends curriculum enrichment toward interreligious literacy and justpeace competencies, school–community peace clubs, teacher capacity-building, and coordinated engagement among clergy, traditional institutions, and security stakeholders. The study contributes to African peace education scholarship by locating a national school subject in a specific, multi-layered conflict ecology.