IGP denies banning morning devotion in schools

CONTRARY to the reports being circulated that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase has banned pre-tertiary institutions of learning from conducting morning devotions, the police authorities have said they only alerted schools in terrorist- infested states to be cautious.

A statement from the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Olabisi Kolawole said the warning has become imperative so as to warn the authorities of primary and secondary schools in these states not to expose their students to avoidable danger.
The IGP therefore “wishes to inform the general public that the Force has not issued any order banning assembly devotion in primary and secondary schools anywhere in Nigeria.

It is “against the backdrop of current security challenges in the country, that the Police only issued advisory notice directed predominantly to the  States where there are insurgency, enjoining them to apply caution in the said assembly so that such congregations do not present soft target for insurgents”.

While duly recognising the fundamental right of the citizen to freedom of worship,”the Police High Command states that the Nigeria Police Force did not stop anybody from taking part in prayer sessions organised by schools, churches and mosques, describing the congregation as the constitutional and democratic rights of Nigerians.

Arase enjoined the public to see the present position of the Force as a necessary sacrifice for the security, safety and peace our schools need, as security is a collective responsibility.
He reassured all Nigerians of the Police’s determination to “strengthening and enhancing the safety and security of all residents of Nigeria while counting on Nigerians to continue to support and work in synergy with the Nigeria Police Force toward the achievement of its constitutional mandate”.