The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, has charged the Special Female Squad to redouble its efforts in gathering actionable intelligence to forestall any form of attack against institutions and schools across the federation.
CSC Babawale Afolabi, National Public Relations Officer of NSCDC, said in a statement that Dr Audi gave the charge at the celebration of the third anniversary of the Special Female Squad, adding that the creation of the squad is one of the robust approaches put in place to tackle the overwhelming challenges of kidnapping and abduction of schoolchildren and their teachers.
Dr Audi further noted that women have great passion for their children and this has informed the resilience and zest put in place by the Special Female Squad since its formation.
“When we came on board, it was necessary to develop a robust scheme capable of tackling the emerging threats against the educational sector.
” From the feasibility study and field survey carried out, we discovered that many schools in the federation were without perimeter fencing, security guards or mechanisms to forestall attacks and are thus vulnerable,” he stated.
“The Corps later took a pragmatic approach to commissioning an all-female squad, which was saddled with the responsibility of protecting both the students, teachers and school environment from possible attacks.”
According to Audi, the Special Female Squad (SFS) was further commissioned in all 36 states of the Federation and FCT, thereby foiling over 48 kidnapping attempts and attacks against students and teachers across the board.
“SFS engages in training and sensitisation programmes on personal security and protection techniques across schools; they have also extended their activities by reaching out to the less privileged, visiting the paediatric ward, postnatal ward, neonatal intensive care unit, and male and female wards to provide moral and logistical support,” he said.
He further stated that the NSCDC SFS continues to wax stronger in the discharge of its duties and responsibilities.
The NSCDC Commandant General further said: “As a means of giving back to society, the SFS conducted community services in several communities, the following hospitals were also visited to distribute relief materials: University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada; Wise General Hospital; National Hospital and Garki General Hospital; Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council Secondary School Sheda; and Gadorasko Primary School Garki, Abuja.
“In light of the above, as the Corps marks the 3rd anniversary of the commissioning of the Special Female Squad across the nation, I charge the officers and men to be more focused, diligent and well-determined to end insecurity in schools, even as you partner and collaborate with other security agencies in the service of the nation.”