Fresh facts have emerged on the level of implementation of the federal government’s Safe School Initiative since its inception in 2019 when former President Muhammadu Buhari signed its Declaration Ratification Document.
Investigation revealed that the scheme, largely implemented by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), had covered 21,000 schools of the 80,000 identified as vulnerable to attacks by bandits, terrorists and kidnappers.
Even though the figure of the schools yet to be covered is high, NSCDC, the driver of the programme, has assured Nigerians that it is fully committed to ending the frequent attacks on schools and kidnapping of school children in the country.
It was exclusively reported yesterday that 1,591 schoolchildren and 61 corps members had been kidnapped in Nigeria since 2014 when terrorists first abducted 276 students from Chibok, Borno State.
While most of the kidnapped victims have regained their freedom unhurt, some are still in captivity, like Leah Sharibu who was taken away in the Dapchi Secondary School mass kidnapping in Yobe State; one student from Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna; students in Damishi town of Chikun local government area, Kaduna, and three of the eight corps members recently kidnapped on a highway in Zamfara State, among others.
In fact, some of the Chibok girls are yet to be liberated from their captors.
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