Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has expressed commitment to securing schools within the North Central zone from further attack by bandits and other criminal elements.
The commander, National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, Tersoo Shaapera, made the commitment during a press briefing in Doma local government area of Nasarawa State.
He said the move to secure schools in the region is in collaboration with other security agencies.
To this end, Shaapera said the Safe School Centre plans to organise a one-day sensitisation workshop for personnel of security agencies in the region on the way forward.
He said the workshop, which is expected to have 500 security personnel in attendance, will be held at the Nasarawa State Government House, Lafia, on Thursday, December 7, 2023.
LEADERSHIP reports that the Safe School Initiative is a programme of the federal government aimed at protecting schoolchildren against all forms of insecurity across the country.
Shaapera explained that the attacks on many schools across the country necessitated the federal government to launch the programme.
According to him, NSCDC will be collaborating with the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, and private security organisations for the safe school drive.
He said, “The challenge cuts across all geo-political zones though with differences in its manifestation. Terrorism and insurgency had resulted in the worrisome kidnap and abduction of students and teachers with destruction of physical structures of schools.
“The willingness and ability to end attacks on schools, which has been overwhelmingly supported by the government, has today resulted in the establishment of the NSSRCC.
The existence of the Centre which is just 10 to 11 months old is heartwarming.
“For me as Commander of the Centre, the establishment of NSSRCC has come as a serious and strategic intervention to address the menace of insecurity in schools, and gladly, different measures have been taken as panacea to ending the problem.
“With the support and collaboration of all and sundry, I believe the goal is realizable. All we need to do is to demonstrate the willingness in support of what the federal government has started. We must all unite against anything that will affect teaching and learning process in any school, both the ones in urban, semi-urban and rural areas.”
