The Nigeria Police Force has launched a 24-hour Schools Protection Squad Command and Control Centre at the Force Headquarters in Abuja to provide rapid responses to security threats affecting schools, students and educational communities across the country.
The initiative, unveiled under the Safe Schools Initiative, will receive emergency reports of attacks on schools and student hostels, bullying, harassment, kidnappings, abductions and suspicious activities around school environments. In a statement posted on its X account on Thursday, the police said the centre would operate round the clock and coordinate swift interventions through the Schools Protection Squad.
The police urged members of the public to report security concerns, saying call handlers would be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The squad also released an emergency contact line, 080-77-35-77-77, for calls and WhatsApp messages.
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The launch comes amid ongoing concerns over school safety following years of attacks and mass abductions. According to Premium Times, more than 30 mass school abductions involving 2,310 students have been recorded since the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, while UNICEF reported that over 11,500 schools were closed nationwide between 2020 and 2022 because of insecurity.
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