Kidnapping: FG launches school safety corps

By Innocent Raphael

The Federal Government has launched the School Safety Protection Squad to halt cases of abduction of schoolchildren in Nigeria.

Commander of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre (NSSRCC) of the NSCDC, Hammed Abodunrin, disclosed this in an interview with journalists on Sunday just as the Defence Headquarters announced that troops had rescued 137 abducted pupils of the LEA Primary School and the Government Secondary School Kuriga in the Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna, within Zamfara State.

The Safe School Response which is an initiative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has been described as a move in response to the rising spate of attacks on schools by bandits.

Revealing some steps taken by the government to halt cases of abductions of pupils from schools, he mentioned that equipments such as vehicles, motorcycles and ICT facilities are being procured, while more personnel will be employed to tackle the challenges head-on.

Abodunrin also stated the Federal Government had declared zero tolerance on kidnapping for ransoms assured its resolve to empower security agencies more to prevent reoccurrence.

“For instance, the centre will soon train some of the newly recruited personnel of NSCDC across the 36 states of the federation and FCT as the school safety protection squad.

“This team will be able to provide a quicker response when needed. They will work with the corps’ female squad nationwide as well as with the police and military resources where available and when required.

“These problems did not just come in a day. Solving them will follow processes but the most important thing is that actions are being taken fast,” he said.

The NSCDC boss also revealed the corps and other paramilitary agencies had begun security education, adding that the centre was also collaborating with relevant stakeholders on child protection.

The commander further attributed the rise in school children kidnapping to the lack of technological facilities in many schools including the installation of closed-circuit televisions and use of identification cards by students.

“The most challenging issue is the lack of security culture. How many schools have identification cards for their students? How many members of staff care to know the number of pupils/students in their schools? Even when you ask some principals in the middle of the term, they will tell you they will check records,” he added.

The National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre has been established by the Federal Government and saddled with the responsibility of coordinating safety and security responses against violence in schools and host communities.