Interior Minister urges security agencies to prioritize proactive intelligence in Safe Schools Initiative

During the Safe Schools National Summit, themed ‘Tackling Identified Threats in the Nigerian Safe Schools Project,’ the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, emphasized the need for security agencies to enhance proactive intelligence gathering to combat attacks on schools in Nigeria.

Addressing the summit in Abuja, Mr. Tunji-Ojo stressed that security operatives stationed at schools should adopt a proactive rather than a reactive approach to address criminal activities.

He urged security agencies to stay ahead of criminals by being creative and maintaining proactive intelligence efforts, emphasizing that a proactive approach is closely tied to intelligence.

Mr. Tunji-Ojo acknowledged the challenge of deploying security personnel to all schools across the country due to the vast number of educational institutions in Nigeria. Consequently, he called for a comprehensive implementation work plan for the safe schools program.

Expressing his full support for the initiative, he stated, “The Safe Schools initiative is one of the best initiatives of the government in recent times. As the Minister of Interior, I want to assure you that I assign myself 100 per cent to this initiative.”

Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Ahmed Audi, highlighted the ongoing challenge of school attacks and the resulting high number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. The summit aimed to address threats to the successful implementation of the Safe Schools project and equip relevant stakeholders to carry out the program effectively.

Education Minister Tahir Mamman emphasized that through effective collaboration among stakeholders and a commitment to the ‘Safe School Declaration Guidelines,’ school attacks could be prevented and their impact mitigated, underscoring the importance of emergency preparedness and prompt responses by relevant authorities.

Credit: NAN