NSCDC boss, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi
The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi has reiterated the uncompromised determination of the Corps to ensure at all times the safety of lives of Nigerian school children and protection of school facilities as mandated by the Federal Government, disclosing that a special committee of the Corps has been working assiduously towards the production of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for this national project with a view to ensuring that its objective forms part of the cardinal responsibilities of the Corps.
Speaking this afternoon at the launch of National Safe schools Response Coordination Centre at NSCDC headquarters, Abuja, Dr. Audi said: ”In view of the importance of education and human capital development towards overall national development, it has become expedient for the Federal Government to deploy extraordinary measures to tackle the spate of attacks on school facilities in Nigeria. Such effort is the commitment and endorsement by the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure that all Nigerian schools become safe and secured for uninterrupted teaching and learning activities.
Accordingly, in the consideration for a multi-sectorial working group, the NSCDC has been made the lead Agency with the mandate to host the National Safe Schools Response and Coordination Centre.
Following this responsibility, I immediately convened a Technical Committee composed of personnel of the NSCDC and consultants to develop strategies for the effective and efficient implementation of the National Plan on Safe Schools across the country. The committee has been working assiduously towards the production of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for this national project.”
The NSCDC helmsman however pointed that no nation can achieve sustainable development in the face of widespread insecurity of lives and properties, with immense cases of insecurity that stem from high profile crimes, perpetrated through transnational syndication and racketeering which have continuously posed threats to the survival of nations.
”Nigeria’s political history has been replete with various forms of violent insecurity challenges ranging from the civil war, election related mayhem, riots and protests, militancy, insurgency and herdsmen and farmers clashes. However, the rise of Boko-haram sect has created a new dimension to Nigeria’s insecurity problems. The main ideological objective of this violent extremist group is strangely, to target the elimination of western education in Nigeria. The negative operations of this group against education became glaring following the abduction of 276 students of Government Girls College, Chibok. Following afterwards were several other cases of attacks of several other secondary schools with cases of kidnapping of teachers and students.
”There were also cases of killing of students and their teachers. Bombs were brazenly detonated in school assemblies, destroying the lives of many students and teachers such as the case of the Yobe school attack while school buildings were burnt, hindering teaching and learning. Intelligence also revealed cases of dormitory raping, though several other attacks remained unreported. Statistics however shows that about 2, 295 teachers have been killed and 19,000 others displaced in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States between 2009 and 2018 alone while an estimate of 1, 500 schools had been destroyed since 2014, with over 1,280 casualties among teachers and students. These violent attacks have negative effect on teaching and learning thereby reversing our sustainable national development efforts.” Audi disclosed.