…seek proactive action, preventive measures
Nigeria cannot be independent until education is fixed —WSCIJ
Police: We’re committed to crime prevention, intelligence-led policing to address threats to schools
School Safety: Journalists should track policy commitments, exposing gaps, ensuring action —Ex-VC
INSECURITY Given the rising level of insecurity threatening schools’ safety, which has resulted in killings and abduction of teachers and school children by bandits for ransom, critical stakeholders, including the IGP, security agencies, policy makers, others are calling for proactive action to stem the drift.
Against the backdrop of rising anxieties over insecurity and safety of students and teachers in Nigerian schools, following the wave of killings and abduction of school children for ransom, concerned stakeholders for one day gathered in Lagos to interrogate the challenges posed and offer solutions that will enhance security and safety in the nation’s school system.
The forum, held at the Providence Hotel, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, was the 7th Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria (EWAN) Annual Summit, with the theme: Schools Under Threat: From Reactive Responses to Sustainable Protection.” Critical stakeholders at the summit include policymakers, security actors, school administrators, examination bodies, development practitioners, and civil society organisations, such as the Nigeria Police; the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC); scholars, labour unions, members of civil society organisations, students, among others.
Others are Financing Safe School in Nigeria; Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); Trade Union Congress (TUC); Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT); ANCOPSS; ERC; Association for Formidable Educational Development in Nigeria (AFED); Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ); WAEC, NECO, and journalists.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Tunji Disu, who was the keynote speaker, was represented by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Tijani Fatai; former Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG and Chairman, NUC Governing Board, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who chaired the summit; Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Alli-Balogun; National Coordinator, Financing Safe Schools in Nigeria, Hajia Halima Iliya; Executive Director/ CEO WSCIJ, Mrs Motunrayo Alaka; National President of ANCOPSS, Dr Robert Okorie; National President of NUT, Audu Titus; President of AFED Mr Orji Kalu; Lagos PTA Chairman, Mr Ganiyu Olatunbosun; NECO South-West Coordinator, representing the Registrar, Mrs Fayoke Idowu; WAEC Acting Head of Printing Section, represent the HNO, Mr Akinbode Akinsola; representing NLC, Mrs Funmi Sessi; Lagos NUT Chairman, Mr Akintoye Hassan, representing NUT National President; Lagos ANCOPSS Chairman, Mr Olusola Maseyi, representing National President of ANCOPSS.
EWAN
Setting the tone of the conversation as insecurity crisis stares the country in the face, particularly the school system, EWAN Chairman, Mr Mojeed Alabi, in his address, tagged: “Why Journalism Matters in the Fight Against Violent Attacks on Schools in Nigeria,” said children are not safe until every school is safe, and that every child deserves the opportunity to learn without fear.
Painting a gloomy picture of the level of insecurity in the country, he noted that when a child leaves home for school, the expectation is that they will learn, grow and return home safely; while no parent should have to choose between a child’s education and their safety.
Alabi, however, cited the cases of abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014 that shocked the nation and attracted global attention; Dapchi School abduction; series of attacks on educational institutions, kidnappings of pupils and teachers, communal violence and other security threats, saying they have demonstrated that school insecurity is not an isolated problem.
Similarly, he recalled the South-East sitat-home orders that disrupted schooling; farmer-herder clashes and other forms of violence forced schools to close in parts of Oyo, Benue, Ogun and other states; and the recent abduction in Oriire, Oyo State, as well as the recent incident of abduction of corps members in Imo State as further reminders that no community could afford to assume that it is immune to the insecurity challenges ravaging the country’s education sector.
“It is a persistent challenge with devastating consequences for education and national development,” Alabi stated, insisting that no teacher should have to teach under the shadow of abduction, and no community should have to watch its future disappear because its schools have become targets of violence.
With all these, he lamented that across Nigeria, schools remain under threat, stressing therefore that we must ask “how many more warnings, disrupted school terms and grieving families will it take before school safety becomes an unquestionable national priority?”
According to him, protecting schools requires government action, effective security institutions, community participation and adequate resources, but it also requires something essential to a functioning democracy and journalism that investigates, informs, questions and holds power accountable.
In his clarion call to Nigerian journalists and stakeholders, Alabi, who noted that the scale of this challenge demands sustained commitment, said: “We must develop expertise in school safety, understand relevant policies and budgets, cultivate credible sources and strengthen our capacity to investigate threats to educational institutions.”
While welcoming guests and other participants to the summit, the Chairman, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who was represented by the Dean, Faculty of Education, UNILAG, Prof Joseph Awoyinfa, described the EWAN 7th Annual Summit as affirmation of a shared commitment to safeguarding school, one of society’s most vital institutions. “We gather at a moment of profound urgency.
Across several regions of our country, the school, once a citadel of learning, aspiration, and childhood innocence, has increasingly become a target of attack, victimisation, and abduction,” he stated.
Ogundipe, who lamented that the nation has witnessed the abduction of learners and teachers, violent invasions into school premises, and disruptions that leave communities traumatised and futures uncertain, explained that these attacks were not isolated tragedies, as they formed a pattern that threatened the very foundation of our national development.
Expressing concerns over the development, the former Vice-Chancellor, however, lamented that for too long, our responses have been largely reactive, mobilising security after an incident, issuing statements of condemnation, and providing temporary relief to affected communities.
As part of the solution, he pointed out that while these actions are necessary, they are not sufficient, saying: “Today, I urge us to shift our collective energy from reacting to crises toward building systems that prevent them, mitigate their impact, and ensure continuity of education even in the face of adversity.”
We must strengthen earlywarning systems that detect threats before they materialise
Added to this, Ogundipe insisted that “we must strengthen early-warning systems that detect threats before they materialise,” saying this requires collaboration between security agencies, local communities, school authorities, and the media.
According to him, journalists, in particular, should play a critical role in spotlighting emerging risks, amplifying community concerns, and ensuring that vulnerabilities are not ignored until they become disasters. He said: “Prevention also means addressing root causes, such as insecurity, weak governance in remote areas, and socio-economic pressures that make schools soft targets.
A protected school is not only one with physical security measures, nor is it one with perimeter fencing or CCTV; rather, it is one embedded in stable, supported, and resilient community security architecture. Implicitly, security is a collective responsibility of all. “Every school should have a functional emergency preparedness plan. This includes evacuation procedures, communication protocols, safe rooms, and trained personnel who know how to respond promptly during crises.
Teachers and administrators must be empowered with training, not left to improvise under pressure. “We need a unified national architecture for school safety, one that aligns federal, state, and local efforts; one that clarifies roles; one that ensures accountability. We must always embrace preventive measures, which are always better, cheaper, economical and more advantageous than cure.
Education journalists have a powerful role here: tracking policy commitments, exposing gaps, and ensuring that promises translate into action. Awoyinfa, who regretted that one of the major problems in the country is that we do not value education, said the education environment is so bad, while schools are porous with children exposed to abduction. To get things right in the sector, he called on universities to develop a curriculum for school safety, under “Unified School Safety.”
Keynote
Meanwhile, in his keynote, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Tunji Disu, said the ultimate purpose of school security is to protect the lives, dignity and future of our children, saying therefore that every child who enters a classroom carries hopes and possibilities.
The Police Chief stressed: “Every teacher, who stands before a class contributes to the development of the next generation. Every parent, who sends a child to school entrusts that institution sends a child to school entrusts that institution with something precious. We must do everything reasonably possible to ensure that these hopes are not destroyed by preventable threats to safety.”
Curiously, in the area of protecting children, as a shared responsibility, the police chief noted that sustainable school protection requires each stakeholder to accept and fulfill clearly defined responsibilities; he added that the government must provide appropriate policies, institutional support and resources.
School administrators, he noted, must take reasonable precautions, assess vulnerabilities and maintain appropriate emergency procedures, while security agencies must act professionally, respond to credible threats and work collaboratively with relevant institutions.
On the part of parents, Disu said they must remain attentive to their children’s welfare and encourage them to report genuine concerns, and teachers must understand their safeguarding responsibilities, while students should be encouraged to seek help from trusted adults when they feel threatened or encounter unsafe situations.
Disu, who was represented by CP Tijani Fatai, noted that the Nigeria Police Force remains committed to crime prevention, intelligence-led policing, professional law enforcement and collaboration with relevant stakeholders to address threats to educational institutions.
This was even as he explained that sustainable protection requires more than police operations, as it requires sound policies, prepared schools, engaged communities, effective partnerships and a well-informed public. Besides, he added that sustainable protection also requires the commitment of education journalists who can ensure that school safety receives the attention it deserves, that public institutions are held accountable and that information reaching the public is accurate, fair and responsible.
Disu challenged the association to let school safety become a sustained area of professional attention, not merely a subject that attracts headlines after abduction, an attack or another tragic incident. According to him, journalists’ work could help transform school safety from an occasional public concern into a continuing national priority.
He, therefore, encouraged the Police and other relevant institutions to maintain constructive engagement with education journalists, saying where appropriate, regular briefings, accessible communication channels and responsible information-sharing could help improve the quality of public reporting while preserving operational security and the integrity of investigations.
The IGP stated: “I, therefore, urge EWAN to sustain this important conversation beyond this summit and translate its deliberations into practical recommendations, stronger professional networks and continued engagement with the institutions responsible for education and security.
“Let us move from reacting to threats to preventing them. Let us move from isolated efforts to coordinated action. And let us move from temporary public concern to a lasting commitment to the safety of our schools. “The future of our nation depends, in no small measure, on the opportunities we create for our children today.
Protecting those opportunities is a responsibility we must all take seriously. “On behalf of the Nigeria Police Force, I reaffirm our readiness to work with EWAN, the wider media community, government institutions, education stakeholders, parents, communities and other security agencies in pursuit of safer schools and a more secure future for our children.”
Panel discussion
During the panel session on “Practical Pathways to Sustainable School Safety: Voice from the Frontline,” the Nigeria Union of Teachers raised the alarm that learners and teachers are under threat, and not just the schools.
Speaking on behalf of National President of NUT, the Chairman of Lagos NUT wing, Akintoye Hassan, who pointed out that learners sent to school to acquire knowledge and training are under threat, it is incontrovertible that the nation and education, as well as the value system are under severe threat. “The nation’s school system has always been under threat, that is the truth, but today we are talking about the magnitude,” he stated, saying the distance teachers and students take to get to school is a major concern.
Besides, like others, he wondered that most schools across the country have perimeter fencing, saying this gave the Oriire school children and teachers’ abductors unhindered access to the schools, as they had no perimeter fencing or gates.
While calling for proper punishment for kidnappers, insurgents and hoodlums attacking schools by the government to serve as deterrence to others, Akintoye insisted that with this, it will be difficult to address or resolve the issue of kidnapping of school children and teachers.
Sharing her experience, the National Coordinator, Financing Safe School in Nigeria, Hajia Halima Iliya, said what the country needs now to ensure safety in the school system is that all hands must be on deck to fish out the actor if we are to address the menace. Reaffirming that the agency with N15 billion for the Federal Government that captured all communities across the country now has a strong coordinated programme, such as data collection and bringing stakeholders in the security ecosystem together to address issues holistically.
The National Coordinator, who stressed the needs for midterm plans, said the Federal Government has made deliberate commitment in the 2026 budget of the agency for training of security agencies, provision of security infrastructure embedded in its programme to tackle the menace of abduction.
On her part, the Executive Director/CEO of WSCIJ, Mrs Alaka, who lamented the rising cases of school children abduction, said that being a vulnerable group, the adult should take responsibility to protect and provide security for them. “We need to be proactive to protect such occurrences in affected communities.
The work of education journalists is critical as they are dealing with the life and future of the children and nation,” she added. Mrs Alaka, who insisted that Nigeria cannot be independent until education is fixed, lamented that students in some communities or parts of the country are still sitting on stones or bare floors in classrooms or under sheds to learn due to lack of furniture and other school facilities.
She cautioned about what she termed “internal violence” in most Lagos schools in the areas of inter-school fighting by students, bullying which has become a major threat in the state’s schools, as well as cultism among school children, saying such students are readyhand for banditry.
Also, the Lagos State Education Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Jamiu Alli-Balogun, who lauded EWAN for the summit, and stated that education reporting is critical to national focus, noted that people should not forget that students are the products of the environment. He said a situation in which children are fighting, bullying others in schools, or engaging in other maleficent activities, is a failure of the social system.
The Commissioner said good parenting and community responsibility of raising children cannot be over flogged, but that the government also has its responsibility, saying the Lagos State government has taken up its responsibility to train the children, give them the right orientation.
On Lagos State’s security architecture, Alli-Balogun described it as superb, saying the governor is responding promptly, while there is a deliberate policy on fencing of all schools, while there is also strategic relationship among parents, communities and government where security issues are always discussed.
“The best security will emanate from the country the schools are located or situated. So, the community leaders, security leaders, and other stakeholders should relate with the government on the security of the students and schools. Lagos Zone 2 PPRO, DSP Gbenga Afolayan, spoke about the need for intelligence policing, saying any threat in the school system could be tackled through community partnership with the police.
“They should engage critical stakeholders in ensuring security in our schools, as the security problem is a ripple effect of the failure of the past. We all have roles to play – parents, teachers, community leaders, religious leaders, traditional rulers, schools, students, and security agencies, among others. Teachers, as a point of duty, must know the students they are teaching or training,” he stated.
Lamenting the ravaging insecurity challenges in schools, the National President of ANCOPSS, who was represented by Lagos ANCOPSS Chairman, Mr Olusola Maseyi, lamented that schools are the epi-theatre of this security threat, saying all school should have perimeter fencing to protect and keep away hoodlums from attacking schools, as well as for monitoring visitors into the school premises.
He attributed the problems to governmental and institutional failure to do the right thing at the right time. Added to this, Lagos PTA chair, Mr Ganiyu Olatunbosun, also noted that schools are under threat, while parents go through serious fear and trauma to educate their children due to the rising cases of insecurity in the land.
He noted that as stakeholders, they could no longer rely on press statements, headlines or reactive approaches on kidnapping incidents, saying we need to be more proactive and move beyond reporting. “We do not want only perimeter fencing, we should work closely and synergise with the police, SCDC and other security agencies to address security issues concerning our schools,” he said.
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