The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Abia State Command, Umuahia, says it has commenced a statewide school safety and security sensitisation campaign for schoolchildren, management officials and teaching staff.

According to the command’s Head of Media and Public Relations, Ndukwe Egwu, who spoke on behalf of the State Commandant in a statement made available to journalists on Friday, the campaign, tagged “School Safety Sensitisation and Reach-Out Programme,” aims at “educating schoolchildren and the teaching staff on evolving security threats, safety tips, and the effects of illicit drug peddling and consumption.”

Speaking while launching the exercise at the command headquarters, the State Commandant, Chukwuemeka Odimba, said, “The School Safety Sensitisation exercise is a well-thought-out programme to build a culture of security consciousness and alertness among our children and the teaching staff.

“We are convinced that if we get it right at that level, then the society will be safer.”

Odimba further stated that the exercise became necessary following the command’s recently concluded security assessment tour of unity schools, colleges of education, polytechnics and universities in the state, as well as the need to embark on the second stage of the programme, which targets reorientation and outreach.

According to him, “This is the next stage of the command’s comprehensive plans to secure our children, teachers and promote a peaceful learning environment in the state.”

He stated that the command was partnering the Civil Defence Officers’ Wives Association, Abia State chapter, to successfully carry out the sensitisation programme.

He lauded the role of the CDOWA Abia State chapter, led by the State Chairperson and wife of the State Commandant, Lady Ijeoma Odimba, for her commitment “towards promoting peace in our homes through their various intervention programmes, especially in the areas of organising sensitisation workshops, providing study materials, offering scholarships to indigent children, sanitary products for the girl child, among others.”

At Comprehensive Secondary School, Umuda, the Head of the Safe School Unit of the command, Umezurike Chinyere, educated the students on security tips and self-defence, adding that the association has been a dependable partner.

In her remarks, the school’s Principal, Mrs Ezenwa Ngozi, thanked the leadership of the Abia NSCDC and CDOWA for their thoughtfulness, which transcends the mere provision of security for lives and property to building strong and resilient homes and promoting a culture of security consciousness and patriotism among schoolchildren.

The team has so far visited several schools, where it also made donations after each security sensitisation workshop, including study materials for schoolchildren and sanitary materials for girls.

CDOWA also called on public-spirited individuals, philanthropists and stakeholders to partner with the association to successfully implement the project across schools in Abia State.