The Adamawa State Government has engaged the services of local hunters and vigilantes to protect schools, Daily Post Nigeria can report
The state Commissioner for Education, Wilbina Jackson who announced this on Thursday in Yola, said the neighbourhood guards would be complementing the work of other security agencies to prevent abductors and other criminals from raiding schools across the state.
Speaking during the commemoration of the Day to Protect Education against Attack in Adamawa, jointly organised by her ministry and the Education in Emergencies Working Group Nigeria, the Commissioner said Fintiri led government is not taking security for granted, to ensure adequate protection of the entire schools and students across the state.
The state government has recently deboarded 30 out of 34 junior boarding schools in the state.
The commissioner said the engagement of local hunters and vigilantes was an additional safety measure for students.
“We deboarded schools to make students attend classes from the safety of their homes and now we want to protect the day schools from activities of attackers who have gone to work in some parts of this country,” she said.
Also speaking, the Adamawa State Focal Person of the Education in Emergencies Working Group, Mr Medugu Stephen, said his organisation is working with the government and other stakeholders in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states to ensure that schools remain open for students irrespective of any emergencies.
“We are working in the area of seeing that education continues even in emergencies such as abductions going on in parts of the country,” he said.
Students of the Federal Government Girls College, Yola, who featured in the event, urged the government to fence schools as part of measures to protect students.
Miss Wusayamba Markus who delivered a speech on behalf of the students, also pleaded for the provision of steady electricity within and outside school premises to deter criminals who flourish under the cover of darkness.