As schools resume, FG rejigs Safe School security commanders

From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja

As the primary and post-primary schools are set to resume next week, the Commandant General (CG) of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi has appointed Commandant Ahmed Abodunrin as the new commander of the National Safe Schools Response Co-ordination Centre (NSSRCC) with a view to introducing new strategies in the security of schools.

Recall that the Safe School Initiative became effective following the frequent attacks and kidnappings of school children across the country.

For instance, in April 2014, 276 school girls were kidnapped from a government secondary school in Chibok, a town in Borno State. Some of the girls escaped captivity on their own, while others were later released following intense campaigning efforts by civil society organisations and negotiations by the government.

Barely four years after the attack on Chibok, the insurgents relaunched their deadly attacks on Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi, Yobe State, another state in the troubled North-West region where over 110 students were kidnapped.

On February 17, 2021, bandits abducted another 41 in Kagara, Niger State

The gunmen raided the Government Science College, Kagara, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, capturing students, teachers, and their family members from the school. Twenty-seven students were among the abductees.
Less than 10 days after the bandits raided Kagara, gunmen kidnapped 317 school girls from the Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe in Jangebe, Zamfara State.
Similarly, the Afaka, Kaduna State kidnapping took place on March 11, 2021, when gunmen attacked Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Igabi Local Government Area, Kaduna State, and kidnapped 39 students just weeks after a similar attack in Jangebe, Zamfara State.

The abducted comprised 23 females along with 16 males. Security forces were able to rescue 180 staff and students the next day.

The same way, on April 20, 2021, it was the turn of Greenfield University when at least 20 students and two staff were kidnapped in Kasarami Village, Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna State.

On May 30, 2021, an armed gang abducted dozens of students from an Islamic school in Niger State.

One of the school officials disclosed that the attackers initially took more than 100 children.

The latest was the Thursday, June 17, when a mass of heavily-armed bandits struck Federal Government College, Birnin Yauri, Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

So, as another academic calendar is about to resume, government is jittery, a situation that prompted it to rejig and strengthen the security of the schools.

The new Safe School commander takes over from the erstwhile Commander, CSC Tersoo Shaapera who has been redeployed.

Dr.Abodunrin, the new NSCDC Commander of the National Safe Schools Response Co-ordination Centre was born in Iresi, Osun State.

He was a trained and accomplished journalist before he joined NSCDC as a volunteer in 1994 and rose through the ranks.

Abodunrin has held various major key appointments in the NSCDC and was a former State Commandant in Ogun and Ondo states.

He bagged his first degree from the University of Lagos, a postgraduate and PhD from the University of Ibadan.

He is a fellow of the Institute of Criminology and Strategic Studies (FICSS) and also a fellow of the prestigious National Defence College.