Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, CG NSCDC

More than 100 attacks on schools across the country have been thwarted by the Safe School Initiative in the first quarter of the year.

The Safe School Initiative was established in response to the increasing kidnapping of schoolchildren by terrorists.

The country has witnessed a series of attacks on schools, especially in northern states, after the novel abduction of 300 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram terrorists in 2014.

The Safe School Initiative, domiciled in the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, aims to ensure that children in conflict zones or areas plagued by insecurity can continue their education.

Since the beginning of the year, there have been numerous student abductions in schools across the country, especially in the northern regions.

Notable incidents include the kidnapping of 137 primary and secondary school students in Kuriga, Kaduna, on March 7, and the abduction of 15 Tsangaya students in Sokoto State on March 9.

Despite these occurrences, the initiative established to secure schools has recorded significant successes, repelling over 100 attacks that could have put the victims, their families and the entire nation in agony.

Speaking in an interview with our correspondent on Tuesday, the National Safe School Response Coordination Centre Commander, Hameed Abodunrin, said the initiative successfully thwarted over 100 attacks on schools nationwide between January and June 2024.

He said, “Foiled attempts (on schools) are more than 100. Mentioning where they happened can create panic situations. The fear of insecurity is worse than the security itself. About 20 million children are already out of school not just because of the economy but because of attacks on education.”

Abodunrin said the majority of attacks were repelled in the North-East, North-West, and North Central regions during the year under review.

He added that an NSCDC officer was shot during a gunfight while preventing a mass abduction of students in Benue State.

 “Generally speaking, the North-East, North-West and North-Central states are mostly affected. Just recently in Benue, a personnel of the NSCDC was shot in the crossfire to prevent mass abduction. He is still recuperating. Perpetrators are encouraged by the economic gains of ransom payments,” the commander said.

A security expert, Chidi Omeje, commended the operatives of the Safe School Initiative, saying, however, that the repelled attacks showed that schools in the country were prone to attacks.

He said, “The foiled attack is much because they see it as an easy target. They see it as one particular thing that could give them a high yield. They know the uproar and concern that such abductions would generate would be nationwide and that the government would be left with no option but to pay ransom.

“It also fits into the anti-intellectual drive of those bandits and terrorists. Kudos to the operatives of the initiative. They need to do more because this shows that our schools are still prone to attacks. If you are an armed robber, you would not want to target the CBN because you won’t succeed.”