Commandant General (CG) of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Abubakar Audi has frowned at the renewed spate of attacks on schools and in the country and directed State Coordinators of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre (NSSRCC), Commanders of Special Female Squad (SFS), men and officers of the Corps to intensify efforts towards protecting educational institutions which are among critical national assets and Infrastructure (CNAI).
The NSCDC helmsman stated this in a keynote address delivered at Corps National Headquarters Abuja, reiterating that NSCDC is a lead agency in the protection of CNAI, hence, commensurate response must be developed to end the menace of attacks on schools.
All personnel must join in the protection of schools or resign.
“We have a lot of issues concerning schools in the country and NSCDC is the lead agency in the protection of CNAI. We can’t fold our hands to watch things going wrong without commensurate response to restore stability in our schools, the Commandant General emphasized”.
Represented by the Deputy Commandant General in Charge of Administration, Adeyinka Fasiu Ayinla, the CG decried the recent attacks on schools in Kaduna and Sokoto States where many pupils, students and a teacher were abducted and still being held by their abductors, stressing that the meeting was to place those specifically charged with the responsibilities of schools safety and security to be on their toes and assured them of maximum support.
The NSCDC boss also re-echoed the need for all schools in the country to register with the centre through its website:
www. nssrcc.gov.ng and reach the centre via some designated phone numbers that were made available to participants.
He emphasized the need for all State Coordinators of NSSRCC and Commanders of SFS to participate in all meetings of ‘The parents-Teachers Association’ and establish cordial working relationships with school communities and the traditional institution to win trust and confidence, noting that it can lead to free information sharing which may, in turn, facilitate swift response in distress situations.
Earlier in his remark, the Commander of the NSSRCC, Commandant Hammed Abodunrin, explained that the centre is meant to ensure the safety of schools, adding that it gathers information from different locations and disseminates to where such information would be acted upon.
Abodunrin maintained that different security agencies with the mandate of protecting schools like Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, Armed Forces and Defence Intelligence Agency are all represented at the centre and called on schools in the country to ensure the passage of timely information to the centre for immediate response.
On her part, Commander Special Female Squad, Assistant Commandant of Corps Imonikhe Oluwakemi, said the squad is designed to support the federal government’s Safe Schools implementation project, adding that they visit schools to sensitize pupils, students, and teachers among others on things to be done for enhanced security.
The SFS Commander stressed the need to have functional CCTV in schools adding that they have visited the federal ministry of education for that purpose.
Further, she called on parents and guardians to continue to educate their children and wards on safety and security measures in schools and assured that the Squad will continue to ensure maximum protection in all educational institutions in the country.