Hammed Abodunrin, the Commander of Nigeria’s National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre within the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, recently underscored the importance of leveraging technology to bolster school security nationwide. In a conversation with a correspondent on Friday, Abodunrin highlighted the need to move beyond relying solely on armed personnel to enhance school safety.
The Safe School Response initiative, established by the Federal Government on February 23, 2023, aims to address the rising cases of attacks on schools by bandits. This initiative is particularly pertinent in light of recent incidents, such as the abduction of six pupils, two teachers, and a driver from Apostolic Faith Church Primary and Secondary School, Emure, on January 30, 2024, and the kidnapping of 287 pupils from Kuriga school in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on March 6.
Abodunrin emphasized that with Nigeria’s vast number of schools exceeding 100,000, no single agency can provide personnel for all of them. Therefore, he stressed the importance of prioritizing technological solutions over increasing personnel for school security.
The commander explained that the Safe School philosophy goes beyond deploying uniformed personnel within school premises; it also includes external monitoring. Instead of solely focusing on deploying more personnel, efforts should be directed towards enhancing technology for real-time monitoring, early warning systems, and prompt responses. Abodunrin cautioned against the psychological impact of introducing armed personnel to schools, as it could adversely affect children and potentially make security forces targets for criminal elements.
Furthermore, Abodunrin highlighted that safe school concerns extend beyond banditry and insurgency to encompass various other challenges such as incidents of rape, cultism, bullying, harassment, and defilement within educational institutions.