The Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has stepped up efforts to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and host communities of all schools across the state.
As part of efforts to ensure safety in school environments, the Ilorin West Division of the NSCDC has organised a one-day security summit with the theme “School Safety and Emergency Response Tips: Citizens’ Security”.
LEADERSHIP reports that the goal of the summit was geared towards strengthening security measures in schools and their host communities.
At the event, the divisional officer, Ilorin West NSCDC, Muhammed Hamzat, said that the summit was designed to review and strengthen grassroots security architecture, with a particular focus on safeguarding schools, students, teachers, and surrounding communities.
He said that the programme aimed to tackle rising security challenges in schools, particularly kidnapping, cultism, bullying, drug abuse and other forms of violence within the school environment.
In a keynote address, the State commandant of NSCDC, Dr Umar Muhammed, emphasised the Corps’ eading role in the implementation of the federal government’s Safe School Initiative.
He expressed concern over the rising security threats in school environments and called for a coordinated and collective approach to mitigate the identified risks.
“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,” he stated.
Umar 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 the state.
He reiterated that intelligence sharing, vigilance, and adherence to security protocols are essential in preventing security breaches.
In their separate remarks, the Balogun Alanamu of Ilorin, Dr Abubakar Jos, and Dr Adekola Abdulazeez of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, stressed the importance of collaboration among school administrators, community leaders, and security agencies in ensuring safe school environments.
They emphasised the importance of community participation, strengthened surveillance, and early warning systems in preventing security threats.
They also called for policy implementation, security awareness, and risk assessment measures within educational institutions in ensuring safe school environments.