The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has assured that it will continue to provide the needed security in schools in Ondo and Osun States to ensure a safe teaching and learning environment.

The NSCDC pledged to collaborate with other stakeholders in the Safe Schools Initiative to ensure its full implementation.

Following incessant attacks on schools and the kidnapping of students and staff by suspected bandits, the National Safe Schools project was initiated to provide safe learning and teaching environments for pupils and students.

The spokesman for the civil defence in Ondo, Aidamenbor Daniel, said both students and educational facilities in the state were safe. Mr Daniel said that the command had put measures in place to protect schools from attacks and also trained host communities to support the protection of schools in their domain and respond to attacks.

According to him, most of these schools are in rural areas and are vulnerable to attacks.

“They are without perimeter fence, no guard and most of them are used as a thoroughfare by the community dwellers. What we do is to train the school community on how to protect themselves and respond to attacks,” the NSCDC official stated. “This is being done by the command’s female squad under the Safe Schools Initiative.”

Mr Daniel added, “This is because we can’t safeguard all the schools conventionally. There is no way we can do man-to-man deployment. We don’t have the resources. What is being done is constant patrol and visitation to schools by the female squad of the command to educate the school community on safety procedures.”

He also mentioned that the state government “is expected to key into the programme by providing us with vehicles.”

According to him, a letter has been written to the state government through the permanent secretary of the education ministry to provide accommodation for the state’s Safe School Response Centre, where all schools in the state are expected to register online.

“The response centre is ICT-driven and will help to monitor and provide real-time response. Recently, the South-West commands of the NSCDC concluded a training on safe schools for selected personnel at the headquarters of 2 Division Nigerian Army, Ibadan, Oyo State,” he said.

Samuel Ojo, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic spokesman, said the school management prioritised the security of lives and properties within and around the institution.

Mr Ojo said the institution is collaborating with security agencies “in ensuring that activities within and around the polytechnic go unhindered.”

“Security is given top priority to ensure the safety of lives of students and properties. The management ensures constant police patrol; internal security agents are always at work and student paramilitary forces are also at work to supply information,” said Mr Ojo.

He added, “The office of the chief security officer of the school mounts surveillance at all entries and illumination is always guaranteed.”

Mr Ojo said the institution had keyed into the Safe Schools project launched by the federal government in 2022.

“The Safe Schools Initiative launched by the Federal Government in 2022 is ongoing in the institution, and it is at an advanced stage. The state government is also not leaving any stone unturned in this direction. The Ondo State Security Network Agency, otherwise known as Amotekun Corps, with its strategies, has helped so much to nip insecurity in the bud in the school’s environment,” he said.

In Osun, NSCDC commandant Sunday Agboola said appropriate intelligence and coordinated quick response had helped safeguard schools in the state.

Mr Agboola stated that the Safe School Project, recently launched by the federal government, had left the realm of being an initiative and has become a collective effort of all security agencies and local vigilantes in the state.

He also said that the state’s coordinating centre for the National Safe Schools project has been carrying out rigorous training on the standard practices for the safety of schools in the state.

The NSCDC boss said the initiative is a preventive measure based on appropriate intelligence and coordinated quick response service.

“This is the reason we go for rigorous training with all government-owned security sister agencies in a bid to protect educational facilities across the state. The Safe Schools project is not an enlightenment mission nor a guard duty, but it is based on prevention by gathering intelligence and quick response. Osun State has no record of attacks on schools to date, but there is adequate structure in place to uncover and nip such a plan in the bud,” he said.

(NAN)