Pix: Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, Commandant-General of Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps
It was a huge relief and reassured confidence for Nigeria’s
security efficiency and workability, especially as it concerns the
safety and protection of its teeming students when Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi
announced shortly after assumption of duties as Commandant-General of
Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps his total commitment and
support for the federal government proposed Safe School Initiative, CG
Audi had affirmed that the proposed security measure would be an
avenue for the NSCDC to confront kidnapping
and banditry activities, within and around the school’s environment.
Conscious of the NSCDC’s core mandate, which obviously aligns with the
of the Safe School Initiative, Audi has left no stone unturned at
ensuring absolute success of the security scheme.
On assumption of duties, Ahmed Abubakar Audi had expressed worry over
consistent armed attacks on innocent students and their schools
especially in the Northern part of Nigeria, observing that quite a
large number of schools are still prone to such attacks.
It’s worthy of commendation that in the thick of daunting security
challenges, the Audi-led NSCDC has exhibited a great deal of sense of
commitment and patriotism to the task of restoring security across
Nigeria in collaboration with other sister agencies.
While announcing the formation of the NSCDC’S all female combatant squad to
secure school environments and protect children who have become soft
targets of bandits, Audi disclosed that there are over 81,000 schools
in the country, out of which over 62,000 are vulnerable to attacks.
According to the CG, most of the affected schools are government-owned,
Re affirming his belief in sterling attributes of Nigerian women
to make valuable contributions to the task of nation building, Audi
explained that the new squad was established due to the unprovoked
and mindless attacks on Nigerians by kidnappers and bandits and
directed the female combatants to take brutally on criminals without
hesitation.
Expectedly,, the recent Government proposed Safe School
Initiative would serve a platform for the NSCDC to confront kidnapping and banditry activities, within and
around the school’s environment, he noted.
According to their mandate, the female squad will complement the efforts of their
male counterparts and work together with other relevant security agencies.
In view of the current tormenting security challenges in Nigeria,
Audi-led NSCDC’s intervention could not have come at a better time
considering the psychological trauma the seeming unchecked attacks and
abductions of innocent school children had unleashed on their parents
and the generality of Nigerians.
Ahead of take-off time of the security scheme, arrangements have been
concluded for the establishment of FORWARD OPERATIONAL
BASES, mainly designed to provide rapid response to security needs and
emergency situations in educational institutions across the country.
These FORWARD OPERATIONAL BASES when established would seek
collaborative support from all the police stations and other security
facilities in all the 774 local governments in Nigeria.
Sources told People’s Security Monitor last weekend that the Corps
management has since embarked on a comprehensive re-orientation and
re-training of the special female squad saddled with the core
responsibility of securing school environments.
Also to make the new security scheme work more efficiently, the
Corps management has established Community Youth Vanguard across the
country under the auspice of Agro Rangers to work in partnership with
its personnel for a robust conversation and exchange of intelligence reports as it unfolds in various segments of
the communities especially within the learning environments and
farming communities with a view to halting the criminal activities of bandits.
Though, it is most unfortunate that we still have as many as 62,000 unsafe
schools, but there is no doubt about the fact that solutions are in sight
with the total commitment of the NSCDC to Safe School Initiative.
Obviously, this bold step would go a long way in providing for Nigerians the much needed recipe for their security.