Four thousand one hundred and fifty schools have been registered in Abia State on the platform of the National Safe Schools Initiative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The commander of the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre of the NSCDC, Umanah Aniedi stated this when he visited the state governor, Alex Otti at his Nvosi country home.
The figure comprises 2,710 nursery and primary schools and 911 junior and senior secondary schools across public and private institutions.
He explained that part of the reason for the visit was to formally present the four-year statutory work plan for the domestication and implementation of the initiative in the state.
Aniedi, who is also an assistant commandant general of NSCDC described the quality of infrastructure and ongoing projects in the state as mark of purposeful and result-oriented leadership.
“Having recently assumed office as the Commander of the National Safe Schools Project, I am impressed by the remarkable infrastructure transformation across your state,” he noted
In his response, the governor reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to partnering NSCDC in maintaining the protection of pupils, students and educational facilities as top priority.
Otii said the administration had made perimeter fencing, security gates and deployment of security personnel, minimum requirements in all rehabilitated and newly constructed public schools.
The governor also observed that collaboration with security agencies would further safeguard pupils and students across the state and thanked they commander for the visit.
Contributing, the state commandant of the NSCDC, Chukwuemeka Odimba, said the command had begun engagements with tertiary institutions and designed specialized security training programmes for personnel involved in the project.
Odimba, who thanked the governor for providing the command operational vehicles, explained that they would be deployed to support the initiative as well as protect critical national assets.
The commandant added that the command was collaborating with the State Homeland Security and Fire Service to strengthen emergency preparedness and response.
