By Funmilola Afolabi
‘It is God who protects our children’
This was the response of a mother of two Mrs. Omolola Akande, as she responded to an inquiry on the requirements a school needs to possess for her to enroll her children there, especially as regards the security of children in the wake of student abductions across the country.
Mrs Akande, who spoke in Yoruba, said she is more interested in the school’s academic prowess.
According to her, ‘We will look at the school’s background. How sound are its students—old and new, are they interested in actually teaching the children?’
When asked about the security measures a school needs to have, she said ‘Fence, too is okay. You see, my child’s school had no fence, but then we had a PTA meeting where the parents talked about the need for a fence. And it was done.’
She opined that having a perimeter fence is good as it prevents children from leaving the school unsupervised, adding that those who don’t have a fence, have no security and have to rely only on God.
‘If there is no fence, there is no security; God is only their protection. I know that God is everyone’s protection, but if there is a fence, then there is security.
Is Mrs Akande alone in this?
Another parent and mother of 3, Mrs Joy Obisesan, said the first requirements in choosing a school for her children would be its environment and the capacity of the teachers there.
However, when asked about the security requirements for the school, Mrs Obisesan said having good security measures in place is a plus, adding that parents should not toy with their ward’s security and send them to schools with adequate security.
She said, ‘Yes, you need to look at the security measures. If the security there is good, then you can send your children to that school. I can’t send my child to a school with bad or no security measures. You need to look for the money to take care of them.
The mother of three called on school authorities to mount necessary security posts in schools to protect the children from security risks.
The spate of student abductions in Nigeria
The abduction of students began on a large scale on December 11, 2020, when 344 male students were abducted from their hostels in Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
Two weeks later on December 20, 2020, 80 pupils of the Islamiyya School, Mahuta, Kaduna State were abducted. In Zamfara State, 279 more girls of
Government Secondary School Jangebe were abducted on February 26, 2021.
Three more students were kidnapped on April 24, 2021, from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State.
While most people before now thought that school abductions were a Northern phenomenon, it would seem that is not the case, as on February 29, 2016, Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Lagos, was attacked by gunmen who abducted three schoolgirls in the dead of night.
And in 2024, the story seems not to have changed. On January 29, 2024, six pupils and three teachers of a private school were abducted by gunmen in Emure, the headquarters of Emure local government area.
This incident cuts close to home, and this has created worry in the hearts of parents in Ondo State, who have hitherto thought their wards were protected in the south-western state.
Security Measures taken by Schools in Akure
A close look at some schools in Akure, the Ondo state capital, showed that while some schools have perimeter fences, others make do with barbed wire as perimeter fences, and some don’t have any at all or have dilapidated fences.
One such school is Divine Crown Nursery and Primary School in Akure. The school houses seven classrooms, partly built with blocks and wood, and has a barbed wire fence.
A teacher in the school, Mrs Jumoke Abiodun, said the pupils in the school are safe as they don’t have any problems in their immediate environment.
She, however, added that while the school is still growing, they are dependent on God for protection.
‘Our school is still developing. We are looking forward to doing more. We are going to do more, but we are sure that God is protecting us. We are under God’s protection,’ she said, laughing.
The Headteacher of Divine Citadel Kiddies Nursery and Primary School, Mrs Funmilola Akinsowa, who accepted that the school does not have a standard perimeter fence, said the building does not belong to them. So they have to make do with the barbed-wired fence.
‘We are guarding and monitoring them. During break time, we don’t allow them to go out; if they must buy something, it’s the teachers who will go and buy it. We rented this place. It is not our permanent site. Even with this makeshift fence, we usually close it, but we opened it for parents to come in easily and have access to their kids’, she added.
The assistant head teacher of Isolo Community High School, Akure, Mrs. Eunice Osho, said they have taken to monitoring the students themselves, adding that the school has not had a perimeter fence for a long time.
‘It’s the grace of God that we have here because we don’t have security in the school. So, we usually monitor them thoroughly because we have no fence. I met this school like this when I resumed, and it had been like this for a long time. The government needs to do something about it.’
The Safe Schools Initiative
As a response to the April 2014 abduction of the Chibok school girls, the Safe Schools Initiative was launched by the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, alongside the Nigerian Global Business Coalition for Education and private sector leaders at the World Economic Forum Africa.
The initiative entails a combination of school-based interventions, community interventions to protect schools, and special measures for at-risk populations.
Spokesperson of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Ondo state command, Daniel Aidamenbor, said the command does not have enough personnel to post to schools and hence resorts to sensitizing the school communities on basic security measures.
He said, ‘What we do is sensitize the school community on providing basic security for themselves. There is no way we can post personnel to all the schools. Ondo State has a lot of secondary schools, and that is very large for man-to-man policing.’
Aidamenbor, who emphasised the importance of schools’ perimeter fences, added that the command interacts with the government, PTAs, and community leaders on basic security measures.
Government intervention
The Chairman of Ondo State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, Rt Hon. Victor Olabimtan, said most public schools without perimeter fencing were constructed about 60 to 70 years ago, adding that the government is taking cognizance of them in its renovation projects.
‘We have close to 2000 schools in the state, and it’s not possible to fence them all; therefore, the government is capturing it in its renovation project, believing that within a short period of years, all primary schools will be fenced, and that is what we are doing’.
He revealed that the board also provides security for schools, saying, ‘You know we live in a criminal-minded world, and so schools are fast turning into criminal dens, and that is why the fencing has started. No more vandalism in schools and weak security measures.
Olabimtan believes that all the primary schools will be properly fenced in the coming years.
