As part of its mandate to safeguard critical national assets and infrastructure, including educational institutions, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kwara State Command, has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to ensuring the safety of students, teachers, and host communities.

In furtherance of this responsibility, the Ilorin West Division of the NSCDC Kwara State Command on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, organized a one-day Security Summit with the theme: “School Safety & Emergency Response Tips: Citizens’ Security” aimed at strengthening security measures in schools and their host communities.

Speaking at the event, the Divisional Officer, Ilorin West Division, CSC Muhammed K. Hamzat, stated that the summit was designed to review and strengthen grassroots security architecture, with a particular focus on safeguarding schools, students, teachers, and surrounding communities. He further noted that the program aimed to tackle rising security challenges in schools, particularly kidnapping, cultism, bullying, drug abuse and other forms of violence within the school environment.

In his keynote address, the State Commandant, Dr. Umar J.G. Muhammed, emphasized the NSCDC’s leading role in the implementation of the Federal Government’s Safe School Initiative. He expressed concern over the rising security threats in school environments and called for a coordinated and collective approach to mitigate risks.

The safety of our children, teachers, and school communities is a shared responsibility that requires collaboration between government agencies, educational institutions, and community leaders. This summit is both timely and necessary as it provides stakeholders with practical strategies to enhance school security and emergency response mechanisms, he stated.

The Commandant further urged school administrators, teachers, students, and parents to actively support government policies and security measures aimed at protecting schools across the 16 local government areas of Kwara State. He reiterated that intelligence sharing, vigilance, and adherence to security protocols are essential in preventing security breaches.

In their separate remarks, Dr. Uthman Atolagbe, the Balogun Alanamu, and Dr. Adekola Abdulazeez of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, stressed the importance of collaboration among school administrators, community leaders, and security agencies. They emphasized the importance of community participation, strengthened surveillance, and early warning systems in preventing security threats. The experts further aligned their recommendations with the global Safe Schools Declaration, advocating for policy implementation, security awareness, and risk assessment measures within educational institutions.

It is worth noting that the NSCDC, through the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre (NSSRCC), serves as the coordinating agency for the Federal Government’s Safe School Initiative, which was established to protect students and create a secure learning environment.