NSCDC deploys secret agents to schools

By Hannah Nathan, Warri.

Following a move to provide a good security in schools across the country, Dr. Ahmed Audi, the Commandant General (CG) of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC), has ordered the urgent deployment of undercover agents to schools and host communities.

While speaking on the ceremony of a five-day capacity development on Safe School Response, the CG handed the directive on Friday in Kaduna.

Congress learnt that about 200 NSCDC employees and other stakeholders from the seven states in the North West reportedly attended the five-day training, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The National Safe Schools Response Coordination Center (NSSRCC) organized the capacity building.

According to Audi, the Corps would collaborate with the state departments of education and local education authorities to successfully carry out the directive.

He claimed that the purpose of the capacity building is to increase the resilience of key players, such as vigilante organizations, retired security officers, host communities, and current NSCDC employees.

NSCDC explained that the programme was to imbue in them all strategies and knowledge on how to provide protection for schools and host communities from violence and attacks.

Audi who was represented by ACG Training and Capacity Building, David Abi, said that the NSSRCC was a critical component of the implementation strategy of the National Plan on Safe Schools.

He said that the plan was developed by government to mobilize synergy among security agencies and relevant stakeholders towards schools’ protection.
He added that the program’s goal was to impart to everyone the tactics and knowledge necessary to protect schools and the host communities against attacks.

Audi, who was represented by David Abi of ACG Training and Capacity Building, stated that the NSSRCC was a crucial part of the National Plan on Safe Schools’ implementation approach.

According to him, the government created the plan to encourage cooperation between security organizations and key stakeholders in order to protect schools.

He added that the program’s goal was to impart to everyone the tactics and knowledge necessary to protect schools and the host communities against attacks.

“It is also pertinent to state that the Standard Operating Procedure of the Centre provides for creation of state coordinating centres and local government response centres for effective and seamless operation.

“It is for this singular fact the I respectfully present on behalf of the centre, the request for the kind consideration for allocation of an existing structure within each of the state capitals in the North-West to serve as the safe school coordination centres,” he said.

The CG told the participants that the task ahead of them was enormous.

“Be reminded that aside being ambassadors of the centre, you are equally the foot soldiers who are in direct contact with the members of schools and host communities,” he said.

He charged them to ensure that the knowledge gained from this training was put into effective practice in the discharge of their duties.

“Furthermore, members of the vigilante groups and private guards company must be ready to collaborate and work in harmony with security agencies to facilitate effective protection of our schools.”

Also, the General Officer Commanding (GOC)1 Division Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Valentine Okoro, said that the national plan for safe schools was a programme developed by government to mobilise synergy among security agencies.