By GARBA MUHAMMAD, Kaduna

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has declared a state of emergency in schools across the country.

In an attempt to proactively protect Nigeria’s educational institutions, the Corps has trained its Specialised Female Squad Unit on sustainable measures and strategies, to be used in protecting schools nationwide, to curtailing security threats.

Declaring open the two days Train-The-Trainer Capacity Building Workshop at the Corps National Headquarters, Sauka, Abuja, the Commandant General, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, represented by Deputy Commandant General (DCG) in charge of Crisis and Disaster Management, DCG Nnamdi Nwinyi, noted that the workshop was apt, timely and germane to the implementation of the Safe School Initiative of the Federal Government.

He stressed that the workshop was coming at a time the nation was contending with security challenges which necessitated the need for more pragmatic actions to whittle down the menace of insecurity in the country.

He hinted that the Specialised Female Squad, since its establishment, has gained significant mileage against the ugly trend of kidnapping of school children for ransom and commended the Squad for their deliberate efforts in repelling numerous kidnapping attempts on students and, more importantly, keeping schools safe at all times.

The CG charged the Unit to remain focused, resilient and committed to the security of schools and protection of students, teachers and other workers.

“The learning environment should be devoid of violence and crimes in order to attain educational excellence, which is key to the growth and development of the nation.

“Nothing in the world could be so precious as our children, which is why we have declared emergency in this sector to mitigate the multi-faceted threats challenging the nation’s security architecture, especially attacks on institutions of learning by hoodlums, kidnappers and bandits.

“We have developed strategic plans and a robust template that will crystalise into more precise action to prevail over these hostilities and achieve sustainable safe schools in Nigeria.

“Note that the workshop is structured to expand your capacity as members of the Female Squad Unit, you are therefore to compare notes, engage in critical thinking and come up with more robust templates to achieve sustainable safe schools in Nigeria,” he said.

Dr. Audi assured that schools would remain safe and conducive for Nigerian children as the Corps was intensively, collaborating and cooperating with other security operatives in combating all forms of criminalities across the country.

He charged participants at the workshop to take the lessons, skills and knowledge acquired during the training down to their colleagues and subordinates for effective discharge of duties.

In his remark, Chief Executive Officer of Supersonic Limited, Frank Ohwofa, thanked the Commandant-General for granting their company the opportunity to facilitate the training and praised him for his foresight in creating the Specialised Female Squad.

He stated that the workshop was conceived to train the Female Squad Unit on new security trends and patterns employed by bandits and kidnappers for ransom.

“The workshop will interrogate in-depth public emergency security systems that can be deployed by the Corps in collaboration with other stakeholders to effectively harness the kinetic assets of the Corps for maximum performance, thereby enhancing response time to violent incidents in places of learning,” he added.