Reps task FG to beef up schools’ security

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to beef up security around schools across the country in view of the current security challenge.

This followed the adoption of a motion by Rep.Julius Ihonvbere (APC-Edo) on the floor of the House on Tuesday in Abuja.

He noted that the increasing insecurity in Nigeria which had become a worrisome development irrespective of one’s class, religion or ethnicity.

He stated that since December 2020, hundreds of teachers, students and pupils had been abducted from schools across the Country.

He said that such development further highlights a troubling development in the Country’s “kidnap–for-ransom” crisis which has now become a money–making “business”.

According to him, the abduction of nearly 300 students from Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangegbe in Zamfara on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27, boys and their teachers from a school in Kagara, Niger State happened in the space of 10 days.

He said that the non-existent security infrastructure in most schools across the country left the children vulnerable to attacks and other negative influences.

He said that this was why it became necessary to provide primary resistance against intruders and protect the school facilities
He called for the deployment of modern technology in the provision of basic security measures in schools.

The House, therefore, urged the Federal Ministry of Education to work out appropriate modalities for the provision of basic security and safety measures to protect schools in Nigeria

It also mandated the Committees on Basic Education and Services, Tertiary Education and Services and Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance.