FG urges govs, security to take proactive measures to curb attacks on schools

THE Federal Government has urged the nation’s 36 state governors and FCT administration to take more proactive measures in collaboration with security agencies to safeguard schools in their domains.

Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, made the call while inspecting facilities at the National Safe School Response Coordination Centre (NSSRCC), located at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.

He also called on the governors to promptly establish similar Safe School Response Coordination Centres to forestall further attacks and kidnappings in schools.

The Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, SAN, and the Minister of State for Education, Dr Sununu had earlier at a news conference condemned the abduction of the more than 287 students and teachers from both primary and secondary schools in Kuriga village in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The duo had also called for safe and unconditional release of the students by their abductors.

Sununu, however, said the inspection of the National Safe School Response Coordination Centre (NSSRCC), is to see how to strengthen the operation of the centre for effective discharge of its duties.

He said: “Education is the key ingredient for individual, communities and international organisations for rapid development; hence an attack on the system would have a ripple effect on the nation.

“The abduction of school children by bandits is an attack on education which should not be condoned.

“We implore all the state governments in Nigeria to see how they can quickly, in the next few weeks, establish their own centre that will be directly connected to this centre,” he said.

He said attacks and kidnappings on schools is a key factor to the out-of-school syndrome that Nigeria is currently facing.

The National Safe School Response Coordination Centre led by the NSCDC, in collaboration with other sister agencies, was established in February 2023, to enhance the security of schools and host communities, coordinate security agencies and other critical stakeholders by receiving and referring complaints as well as maintaining emergency hotlines.

Dr Sununu commended the NSCDC for its activities so far stressing that the centre will be further repositioned for optimal performance.

He said in line with the Safe Schools implementation project, there is a need for him to reiterate focusing more on proactive measures by intensifying efforts in timely intelligence gathering and dissemination of such information to respective actors to nip in the bud the activities of evil perpetrators.

The Minister of State Education, however, advised the state governments to replicate the Safe School Response Coordination Centre in their respective states as these would be connected to the NSSRCC for effective operations and coordination.

He also called on all principals of schools to register with the centre for easy dissemination of information.

The commandant-general of NSCDC, Ahmed Audi, who was represented by the DCg, Admin, Fasiu Adeyinka, appreciated the Federal Ministry of Education for its unwavering commitment towards the development of the education sector in the country.

The commandant of the National Safe School Response Coordination Centre, Commander Hammed Aboderin, appealed to host communities to always avail the security agencies with necessary information to enable them carry out their duties.

He identified insufficient funding as a challenge to his centre and highlighted the need to educate school children and teachers to detect potential hazards and prevent victimisation.

The NSSRCC is a crucial part of the Safe School Programme in Nigeria, established to address security challenges faced by schools in the country. It operates from NSCDC’s headquarters in Abuja, focusing on advocacy, sensitization, and capacity building for the Safe School Initiative Project.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission has blamed the abduction of 287 students and teachers from two schools in Kaduna on the failure of the federal policing system in Nigeria.

Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission, Anthony Ojukwu, speaking at a stakeholders’ dialogue on state police organised by the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre in Abuja said the incident had since triggered a national outrage, with Jama’atu Nasril Islam, Amnesty International, the Parents-Teachers Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Teachers, and the House of Representatives condemning the attack.

Ojukwu emphasised that such disaster could have been averted if the nation had not prioritised protection of the elite and affluent in society at the expense of the masses.

He also advocated for the introduction of state police to tackle banditry and general insecurity ravaging the country.

“Insecurity in this country is a result of bad governance; there is no argument about that. However, do we have to wait until there is good governance? Even in societies where you have good governance, they don’t joke with the issue of security.

“We are at a crossroads where every aspect of our life as Nigerians is not working. For me, the greatest attraction was the issue of state police tackling insecurities.

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