The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Christopher Musa has given the assurance and commitment of the Nigerian Army, towards a secured and better environment for schools and Nigerian children to be able to acquire education without fear of attacks from criminals.
General Musa gave the assurance recently during a two-day workshop on safe school held at the headquarters of 1 Division, Nigerian Army in Kaduna with the theme “Providing a secure and safe learning environment for the advancement of national development”.
He said, the Armed Forces of Nigeria would continue to do all within their strength to ensure the protection of children, in collaboration with other security agencies.
The CDS who was represented at the occasion by Maj.-Gen. Emeka Onumajuru, the Chief of Defence Training and Operations Defence Headquarters said, in line with Federal Government’s policy on safe, secure and violent-free schools, the need for the workshop became imperative in view of the incessant attacks on schools across Nigeria since 2014.
He disclosed that the workshop was aimed at sensitising troops on the rudiments of inter-agency collaboration to protect schools against attacks, adding that it was an avenue to provide key enablers required to reach the locations of some of the schools, such as motorcycles and communication gadgets, so as to respond rapidly when the need arises.
“The Armed Forces of Nigeria are for Nigerians and will continue to do all within their strength to ensure the protection of our children, working with all the security agencies, “Musa said.
Speaking also, the General Officer Commanding(GOC), 1 Division Nigerian Army Maj.-Gen. Mayirenso Saraso, called for collaborative efforts among all the stakeholders to secure schools across the country while appealing to the participants to make the best use of the workshop to ensure that the objective of the safe schools initiative was achieved.
In his remarks, the overseeing Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, Mr Samuel Aruwan, said that between July 2021 to March, 2024 , Kaduna State has had its fair share of abductions of children from various schools.
The workshop had participants from the Police, NSCDC, members of the armed forces, religious and traditional leaders where some of the participants.
