By Kingsley Omonobi
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, has assured parents that the Nigeria Police Force has taken responsibility for strengthening the security of schools across the country and that Nigerian children are safe, as the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) formally flagged off its Safe School Programme in Abuja.
The programme which flagged off at LEA Primary School, Maitama, FCT, is aimed at strengthening security around schools through enhanced police-community collaboration, intelligence gathering, surveillance and rapid response, with the initiative expected to be replicated across the country.
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Okokon Iniedu who represented IGP Disu at the launch, disclosed that the police had developed internal warning and response mechanisms to enable schools to quickly alert security authorities to emerging threats.
He said the initiative was particularly important against the backdrop of the increasing targeting of soft targets, including schools and places of worship, by criminal and terrorist elements.
The PCRC National Chairman, Alhaji Mogaji Olaniyan, described the initiative as a practical demonstration of community policing under IGP Disu, saying the programme would expand the role of PCRC members beyond traditional support for police formations.
Olaniyan said the IGP had directed the committee to move beyond activities such as supporting police stations and vehicles and become more actively involved in securing communities.
“He directed us to go out. You are in charge of your community. You represent the villages and communities. Together, we want to partner with him to say: never again in this country should there be an attack on our teachers and our schools,” he said.
Olaniyan said PCRC would deploy 10,000 volunteers across the country under the Safe School Programme, working in partnership with the police, community leaders, vigilante groups and other relevant stakeholders.
He said the initiative would focus particularly on schools located in rural and remote communities, which he described as potentially vulnerable to attacks by criminal elements.
He said the PCRC had commenced the deployment of CCTV surveillance cameras, with the national body providing three cameras to support the programme in the FCT, while the FCT PCRC would provide an additional three.
He said the objective was to expand surveillance coverage to schools across the six area councils of the FCT and subsequently extend the model nationwide.
Olaniyan appealed to individuals and organisations to support the programme through the provision of CCTV cameras and other resources needed to enhance surveillance around schools.
He said the cameras would enable security authorities to monitor activities around schools, including periods when the facilities were not occupied, and facilitate early detection of suspicious movements.
The PCRC chairman also stressed the importance of protecting teachers, describing them as a priority under the Safe School Programme.
He said the initiative would not be limited to physical security but would also address social vices among young people through sustained engagement with pupils and students.
According to him, the PCRC would establish stronger links between schools and former students who had become professionals, including lawyers, judges and other accomplished Nigerians, to serve as mentors and role models for pupils.
He said such engagements would help inspire students, promote positive values and demonstrate the achievements that could be attained through education.
He said the initiative would not be limited to physical security but would also address social vices among young people through sustained engagement with pupils and students.
Furthermore, he said the PCRC would establish stronger links between schools and former students who had become professionals, including lawyers, judges and other accomplished Nigerians, to serve as mentors and role models for pupils, noting that such engagements would help inspire students, promote positive values and demonstrate the achievements that could be attained through education.
He added that the PCRC had commenced engagements with community leaders, vigilante groups and other stakeholders ahead of the resumption of schools, stressing that securing educational institutions required collective action.
“We are not working in isolation. We are engaging community leaders, vigilantes and other stakeholders. If you see something, say something,” he said.
He noted that the Safe School Programme had come to stay and would remain a major priority of the PCRC under his leadership, in partnership with the Nigeria Police Force.
“The initiative is expected to strengthen community-based intelligence gathering, surveillance and rapid response around schools while deepening collaboration between the police, communities and other stakeholders in protecting Nigeria’s educational institutions,” he concluded.
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