By Michael Olugbode
The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr. Ahmed Audi, has announced the establishment of the School Safety Programme (SSP) to ensure the safety of all schools across the country.
Audi said yesterday that the introduction of the SSP would curtail the incessant abduction of students in their school compound.
Recently, there has been series of abduction of students in the North, which have constrained some state governments to close down schools at the risk of exasperating the high level of literacy in the educational disadvantaged region of the country.
The incident has equally made some humanitarian agencies to forecast that there may be huge increase in child marriages across the North since many school age children may be withdrawn from schools by their parents.
Audi said while declaring open a two day workshop organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung for the corps’ state commandants in Abuja that the SSP was introduced by the NSCDC’s personnel who had undergone military training in combating asymmetric warfare to curb the increase rate of insecurity in Nigeria.
He said the workshop would boost and strengthen the capacity of the sate formations of the NSCDC who are drivers of the core mandate of the corps, adding that the corps had adopted a new credible approach of intelligence gathering that is based on scientific collaboration with the sister agencies in tackling insecurities head on.
He said: “I like to tell you that we are working hard and with scientific collaboration with the sister agencies, Nigerians will appreciate what we will be doing. The confidence that Nigerians have for the civil defence will be reinforced as we are combat ready to use credible intelligence to fight this war. I like to assure Nigerians that civil defence will do her best to make sure that the insecurity incidences are curbed.”
