Attacks: States fortify security in schools

Following a presidential directive that state governments fortify security in and around public and private schools in their areas, some states have begun to comply.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that President Goodluck Jonathan had directed states in the North East region to secure schools with boarding students against the background of the abduction of some schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State.
Jonathan also announced a N6.2 billion Special Intervention Fund by the Federal Government and advised the states to complement the efforts through counterpart funding.
A survey conducted by NAN indicated that proprietors of schools are gradually keying into the programme of providing modern security systems to check attacks by criminals.
In compliance with the presidential directive, the Yobe State Government said it had erected fence in all public schools in the state as a measure to check attacks by insurgents.
More than 100 students were killed by insurgents last year at Government Secondary School, Damaturu, and Government Secondary School, Mamudo, as well as Federal Government College, Buni-Yadi, and College of Agriculture, Gujba, all in Yobe State.
The state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Muhammad Lamin, said the fences were meant to check trespassing in the schools.
“The schools were porous and vulnerable before the erection of the fences but now there is a sense of security as no one can drive through except through the gates,” Buni-Yadi said.
Many teachers and students expressed satisfaction with the new arrangement.
A teacher told NAN on condition of anonymity: “It (fence) gives us some sense of security unlike when you could drive in from all directions.”
Some parents, who also refused to be mentioned, commended the state government for fencing the schools and rebuilding burnt structures.
Also, security personnel were seen around some schools in Damaturu.
On its part, the Gombe State Government said it had been recruiting retired soldiers to guard public secondary schools in its area of control.
NAN learnt that in some schools, at least three retired soldiers were employed to guard school premises.
Among the schools are Government Girls’ College, Doma; Government Secondary School, Gombe I; Government Secondary School, Gombe II; and Arabic Teachers College, Gombe.
Some of the former soldiers told NAN on condition of anonymity that they run two shifts – day and night – in their respective schools.
However, when NAN visited some private schools, such as Pen Resource Academy, Gombe; Yahaya Ahmed Model School, Gombe; and St. James School, Gombe, private security men were seen guarding the premises.
Some of the schools have also erected barricades at their entrances as a way of checking movement into their premises.
The Police Public Relations Officer of Gombe State Police Command, DSP Fwaje Atajiri, told NAN that the police were collaborating with other segments of the society to ensure effective security.
Atajiri added that the command had a good synergy with other security agencies in the state in sharing and using intelligence.
He said: “We meet from time to time where we share intelligence and from time to time engage in joint operations.”
Atajiri explained that the operations covered all sectors of the society, including schools and other public places.
Also in Adamawa State, one of the three North East states under emergency rule in the last one year, school proprietors have begun to beef up security around their premises following violent attacks by insurgents since 2012.
However, an official of the state government said the state had yet to receive the Federal Government’s Special Intervention fund.
Malam Ahmad Sajoh, the Director of Press and Public Affairs to Governor Murtala Nyako, who made the situation known to NAN, however, said the governor was committed to investing in security for the benefit of the people.
Meanwhile, heads of security agencies in the state said they were collaborating in their jobs.
The security heads include the Brigade Commander, 23 Amoured Brigade, Yola, Brigadier General Rogers Nicholas; the Commissioner of Police, John Abakasanga; and the Comptroller of Immigration, Alhaji Rauf Adeboyega.
From Abeokuta, Ogun state comes reports that the authorities have also taken steps to beef up security around schools.
Some school administrators told NAN that the issue of security had become paramount to them because of incessant attacks on schools.
Olurotimi Farunbi, the Principal, Abeokuta Grammar School, Idi-Aba, said the walls of the school had been raised to make scaling of the fences difficult.
Farunbi said that the school had also increased the number of its security personnel to ensure effective surveillance of the premises.
A source at Federal Government College, Odogbolu said that the school had restricted movement in and out of the institution from 8pm to 6am, except for special cases.
The source said that students had also been barred from using phones in the school, while vehicles going into the school premises were searched thoroughly.
The source said: “We make sure all vehicles moving in and out of the school premises are thoroughly searched.
“We also organise regular fora during which we sensitise both students and parents to the need to be security conscious.
“We normally create special sessions during our PTA meetings, during which we invite security personnel to give us talks on security issues.”
Kayode Ajayi, the Principal, Iganmode Grammar School, Ota, also in Ogun State, said that the school recently bought a bomb detecting machine, while plans were underway to buy CCTV cameras to beef up security in the school.
On his part, the Police Public Relations Officer in Ogun State, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said that the command had intensified security in and around public and private schools in the state.
Adejobi said: “Those that operate boarding facilities enjoy presence of our policemen on their premises during and outside school hours.
“We also ensure regular patrols of other schools, which do not operate boarding facilities, while we have also compiled the list of all security managers of the schools and colleges, including tertiary institutions, for regular meetings and interactions.”
The State Intelligence Bureau of the command has also been liaising with the Department of State Services in Ogun State for proper intelligence information gathering and sharing with stakeholders, including principal officers of the schools, Adejobi said.
He said that the command would continue to do the needful to ensure adequate protection of lives and property in and around school premises.
Similarly, the Bauchi State Government says it has provided security measures in all its schools following threats of attack on some schools across the state.
The Bauchi State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Ibrahim Aminu, told NAN in Bauchi that the state government had sensitised teachers and students to security matters, especially on seeing strangers or strange objects.
Aminu said that the threat to attack schools was not a new phenomenon but “we do not neglect any information we received.
“We have taken some measures in collaboration with security agencies, parents and the communities to ensure that all our schools are safe.
“Sometimes, the threats came repeatedly, they equally came from students who felt they would not pass their promotion examinations and after investigations some students were held responsible for the threats by the security agencies.”
Aminu said that proactive measures were also taken whenever information filtered into the ministry that there was a threat issued to any school.
He said: “What we do is to send it to the security agencies and we investigate and take all the necessary measures we can.
“We don’t joke with threat and useful information.”