Civil Defence deploys officers to secure Adamawa schools

To check a repeat of the Dapchi episode, the Adamawa command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has deployed 250 heavily armed personnel to secure all the secondary schools in the seven local councils recaptured from the insurgents in 2015. 

The State Commandant, Aliyu Musa Ndamsa, told reporters yesterday in Yola that the measure was a response to a presidential directive asking the corps to join sister agencies in tightening security in attack-prone facilities.

Accordingly, he confirmed that the armed and plain-clothe officers had been stationed in Gombi, Hong, Maiha, Mubi South and North, Michika and Madagali council areas.

Assuring parents of the safety of their wards, Ndamsa pointed out that the new security arrangement would not only put an end to abduction of school children in the North East region, but also rekindle hope in guardians. 

He said: “We have mobilised our personnel in uniform and mufti to all boarding schools in the seven local governments prone to attacks by the insurgents.”

The commandant boasted that all that was needed for the successful prosecution of the assignment, including staff welfare, had been provided.

However, the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) and Youth Development Association (DAYDA) of Dapchi have called on federal and Yobe governments to step up the rescue of the 110 schoolgirls kidnapped when Boko Haram insurgents stormed Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) in the community on February 19,2018.

In a statement by its chairman and secretary, Bashir Manzo and Baba Shehu, DAYDA stressed that the missing 110 schoolgirls were entitled to their rights for ‘education and safety of lives and property.’

They charged the authorities to act on tips provided by groups and individuals on the whereabouts of the abducted girls.

The statement reads in part: “We declare our total support for the ongoing efforts by the government to rescue our abducted daughters, but would only beconvinced by her commitment when the girls are rescued in earnest and alive.

“From our records, the abducted GGSTCDapchi girls are 107 as against 110 publicised in the media.

“We condemn in totality the selective engagement by government’s constituted committees and representatives with parents of the abducted school girls, whereby only those considered stooges to some political leaders were consulted while neglecting the leadership of the forum of abducted Dapchi school girls. ’’