Insecurity:  62,000 schools nationwide open to attacks — NSCDC

The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ahmed Audi, on Tuesday said the agency had concluded a vulnerability survey on schools across the nation.

According to him, the survey was to enable the corps to devise strategies in order to secure schools nationwide.

From the survey, Audi revealed that there are over 81,000 schools in the country out of which over 62,000 are susceptible to attacks, adding that most of the schools are government-owned.

He spoke at the maiden commandant general’s conference during which he rolled out operational vehicles and inaugurated 200 housing units for junior and intermediate officers in Abuja.

Audi said the corps’ female squad had been established to secure school environments to protect children who had become targets of attacks by bandits and kidnappers.

He said, “As part of the achievements of the corps from March 1 till date, we have carried out vulnerability survey of all schools in the country to enable us to work out strategies to effectively secure our school environment as part of efforts towards achieving the Safe School Initiative of the Federal Government.

“From the survey, we discovered that the nation has over 81,000 schools, but it was very surprising and disturbing that out of this figure, over 62,000 schools are very insecure.

“They have no presence of physical security and there is no fence, which shows how vulnerable our children are to any attack. Most of these schools are public schools.”

He also hinted that arrangements are in top gear for the deployment of technology solutions for surveillance and monitoring of critical national assets and infrastructure in the country.

Audi called for synergy among security agencies in the country and citizens to contain the rising insecurity.

He added, “Nigeria is going through a new phase of insecurity conflict, which is otherwise known as asymmetric conflict.

“We are not conversant with this conflict but I think we are getting over it. We have realised that the only strategy to nip this in the bud is that we must return to the basics and work assiduously to use critical intelligence and strategies properly.

“This synergy should not be among the security agencies alone, the citizens must be part of this so that we can find a solution to this conflict.”