By Ahmed ‘Lateef
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kwara State Command is disturbed over what it called “the rising security threats in school environments”.
It, however, called for a coordinated and collective approach to mitigate risks associated with security threats.
The state Commandant of NSCDC, Dr Umar Muhammed, said this at a one-day Security Summit with the theme: “School Safety and Emergency Response Tips: Citizens’ Security”, which the Ilorin West Local Government Area Division of the NSCDC of the state command organized.
theheraldnews.ng reports that the summit was aimed at strengthening security measures in schools and their host communities.
Muhammed, at the summit, emphasized the NSCDC’s leading role in the implementation of the federal government’s Safe School Initiative.
The commandant urged school administrators, teachers, students, and parents to actively support government policies and security measures aimed at protecting schools across the 16 local government areas of Kwara State.
He reiterated that intelligence sharing, vigilance, and adherence to security protocols are essential in preventing security breaches.
“The safety of our children, teachers, and school communities is a shared responsibility that requires collaboration between government agencies, educational institutions, and community leaders.
“This summit is both timely and necessary as it provides stakeholders with practical strategies to enhance school security and emergency response mechanisms”, Muhammed said.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the command to ensuring the safety of students, teachers, and host communities.
The Divisional Officer, Ilorin West Division of NSCDC, Muhammed Hamzat, said the summit was designed to review and strengthen grassroots security architecture, with a particular focus on safeguarding schools, students, teachers, and surrounding communities.
He noted that the programme was designed to tackle rising security challenges in schools, particularly kidnapping, cultism, bullying, drug abuse and other forms of violence within the school environment.
In their separate remarks, the Balogun Alanamu of Ilorin, Dr Uthman Atolagbe Jos; and Dr Adekola Abdulazeez of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin stressed the importance of collaboration among school administrators, community leaders, and security agencies.
They emphasized the importance of community participation, strengthened surveillance, and early warning systems in preventing security threats.
The experts aligned their recommendations with the global Safe Schools Declaration, advocating policy implementation, security awareness, and risk assessment measures within educational institutions.
