Nigeria Police launches School Protection Squad to tackle insecurity in Edo

Following the spate of insecurity, peculiarly successful schools crossed the country, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, connected Friday, 25 April 2025, launched the Nigeria Police Force School Protection Squad, SPS, successful Edo State.

Egbetokun said the motorboat of the programme was portion of efforts to guarantee information and a conducive learning situation for teachers and students successful the state.

Speaking astatine a stakeholders’ forum connected the information of schools successful Edo State and the grooming of the SPS, successful Benin City, the Inspector General of Police described the inaugural arsenic a milestone successful the force’s ongoing committedness to safeguarding acquisition institutions successful the country.

Represented by AIG Zone 5, Benin, Salman Garba-Dogo, the constabulary brag said the squad would service arsenic a accelerated effect and preventive unit.

He said the squad is specifically trained to enactment with schoolhouse communities, measure threats, respond to emergencies, and physique spot betwixt students and instrumentality enforcement.

“Their relation goes beyond protection. They volition prosecute students, supply acquisition enactment connected information consciousness and foster a civilization of vigilance and partnership. Our extremity is not conscionable carnal information but affectional reassurance for students, teachers, and parents alike.

“The inaugural is developed successful adjacent collaboration with the Ministry of Education, government, and the parents-teachers association.

“This is simply a reflection of our content that schoolhouse information is simply a shared work that requires unity, vigilance, and compassion. Every kid has the close to larn successful an situation that is escaped from fear. We volition not waver successful our work to support that right,” helium said.

Egbetokun, however, encouraged pupils, educators, and families to spouse with the police, stock concerns, study suspicious activities, and prosecute schoolhouse officers, noting that “together, we tin marque our schools safer, stronger, and much resilient.”

In his code to state the juncture open, the Edo State governor, Monday Okpebholo, said his medication is aligning with the national government’s schoolhouse extortion imaginativeness to instrumentality effectual strategies that would support our children and educators.

Okpebholo, represented by his deputy, Dennis Idahosa, opined that the inaugural would guarantee that each kid successful Edo State tin learn, grow, and thrive successful a unafraid and nurturing environment.

He noted that acquisition is not conscionable a pillar of development, but a instauration upon which the aboriginal is built.

“So, arsenic we question to fortify our acquisition system, we indispensable archetypal face the escalating challenges threatening the information of our children and their learning environments, which see schools.

“These challenges are not unsocial to Edo State; they are nationalist successful scope and truthful request a coordinated and inclusive effect arsenic provided by this forum,” Okpebholo said.

He added: “To heighten information crossed our acquisition institutions, my medication has embarked connected the operation of perimeter fencing for schools to supply carnal protection.

“The authorities authorities has besides deployed the state’s information corps to the grassroots to tackle information threats successful our schools, provided mandatory guidance and counselling offices crossed schools with changeless checks connected students, among others.”

On his part, Commissioner of Police Abayomi Shogunle, who is the nationalist coordinator of the SPS, described the inaugural arsenic a combative assemblage bid strategy designed to support schools, empower students, and physique spot betwixt instrumentality enforcement, educators, and families.

Shogunle disclosed that implicit 65 constabulary officers from Edo State Command person been trained to respond and spell connected sensitisation regarding the schoolhouse information inaugural crossed the 3 senatorial districts.

“What the IGP is trying to bash is to get everybody involved, due to the fact that it is safer and cheaper to forestall transgression from happening alternatively than being reactionary to a information concern astir schools,” helium said.

He added that the unit has a dedicated telephone centre for receiving calls from students, parents, teachers, and radical successful the Save Our Soul assemblage to guarantee that their calls are attended to nary substance the clip of day, each implicit the country.

The stakeholders’ gathering has arsenic its theme, “Strengthening Security Resilience and Integration of Host Communities successful the Protection of Education.”