The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun said the Force would deploy modern technology and intelligence led policing to safeguard schools against security threats and attacks.
Egbetokun stated this on Monday during a stakeholders forum meeting on safe school initiative with the theme: “Strengthening security resilience and integration of host communities in the protection of education.”
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Represented by the AIG Zone One, AIG Ahmed Amani, the IGP, however emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts between the various stakeholders to identify threats and mitigate the menace to ensure adequate security and safety in the schools.
“As we are gathered here today, we are reminded of our sacred responsibility to provide a safe and conducive learning environment to our school children. We are working tirelessly in collaboration with other sister security agencies to achieve these desired goals.
“We will also make use of modern technology and intelligence led policing to ensure proactive law enforcement presence around our schools.
“The key objectives of this forum are to identify and address security threats to schools and strengthen partnership between the Nigeria Police, Educational Institutions and host Communities to develop effective strategies for preventing and responding to security incidents and promote a culture of security awareness and responsibility among students, teachers and the wider community.
“As part of this initiative training programs will be instituted for educators, administrators and security personnel who will in turn leverage on the skills to respond to security threats.
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“The safe schools are where the culture of safety for our students, teachers, staff and our community at large is ensured,” IGP Egbetokun said.
Declaring the event open, the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf said security of the school must be given utmost attention as education is the bedrock of the society.
The Governor who was represented by the Commissioner of Education, Ali Makoda reiterated the commitment of the state government to ensure schools across the state were safe and secured.
He said the government has implemented various measures to ensure the schools were protected such as deployment of security personnel and installation of security apparatus among others.
Earlier, the National Coordinator, School Protection Squad, CP Abayomi Shogunle said in recent years, Nigeria had faced security challenges such as kidnappings, homicide, and destruction of school infrastructure sometimes leading to school closures and negatively affecting host communities, and these incidences can be linked to the increasing number of out-of-school children.
He said the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools in a 2021 report indicated that between 2012 and 2016, more than 600 teachers were killed in attacks, while more than 19,000 were displaced, hence the resolve by the Nigerian government, recognizing its responsibility to create a safer and more secured learning environment.
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The government formally signed the safe school declaration document on 31st December, 2019 which signals the country’s commitment to its implementation alongside 118 member countries.
In his goodwill message, a Political Analyst, Prof. Kamilu Sani Fagge called on the security agencies to ensure synergy with the community members to enjoy goodwill information and to always act swiftly on intelligence reports at their disposal.
