NSCDC alerts on 62,271 schools without protection

The Commandant-General of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr. Ahmed Audi, has said that 62,271 schools across the country are without any form of security presence and perimeter protection against kidnappers and other dangerous elements.

Audi, who disclosed this in a statement at the World Civil Defence Day yesterday, in Abuja, urged greater synergy with other security agencies in support of the NSCDC female squad charged with the mandate of protecting schools in Nigeria.

He said the agency had conducted a survey of schools in the country with the aim of stemming the tide of kidnappings and found that out of 81,545 registered schools in the country, only 22,398 schools have a perimeter fence and 58,967 are without any.

He added that 44,297 are private schools while 37,248 are government-owned or public schools across the 36 states and the FCT with 35,112 located in urban areas while 47,115 are located in the rural areas.

The NSCDC Commandant-General said that the birth of the corps female squad came as a proactive step to tackle insecurity and protect the schools under the safe schools initiative of the government.

“In response to the Safe Schools Initiative of the Federal Government, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps did a vulnerability survey of schools in Nigeria and prepared a framework of proactive security measures to be taken towards addressing the dangerous trend of attack on schools in the country.”

“We set up the female squad as a way of addressing this dangerous trend, and recommended the kinetic and non-kinetic approach in finding lasting solution to cases of attacks and kidnapping in schools because something needs to be urgently done to address this to secure the nation’s schools and chase away the kidnappers,” he said.

Audi, who incidentally was marking the first year anniversary of his appointment as CG, said as part of ongoing reform process aimed at improving service delivery in the private security guards industry, the Corps had been carrying out the process of digitalisation of the private guard company department for improved operational efficiency and productivity in the sector and for administrative convenience.

He said that the department was also co-ordinating biometric data capturing of all private guards, urging the operators to make members of staff welfare and training a topmost priority.