Kidnapping: Ogun Beefs Up Security In Public Schools

Ogun State Government has beefed up security in all its schools across the State to forestall kidnapping of students for ransom or rituals by gunmen and bandits.

Governor Dapo Abiodun disclosed this when he received members of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Basic Education, led by its Chairman, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, who they paid him a courtesy visit in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Abiodun said about 600 schools would be rehabilitated across the State as part of efforts to provide conducive environment for teaching and learning before the end of his first term in office.

The Governor described the condition in which children learn as ‘deplorable’, saying though his administration has invested so much on infrastructure in the education sector, much needed to be done to achieve the desired result.

“I have approved employment of security men in all our schools. We do not want to be reactive on the issue of security in our schools. We want to ensure that not only our children are safe, but their teachers also.

“In spite of the much we have done, each time I see some news items on the television or newspaper about one school whose roof is about to fall, I say to myself ‘when will we cover all these schools?’ And we have rehabilitated so many schools.

“Having a conducive environment for our children to learn remains our priority. Our target is that by the end of our first four years in office, we would have done about 600 schools by giving them a facelift.

“We are also in the process of awarding contract for the construction of 60,000 furniture so that our children can sit comfortably while learning,” he explained.

-NATION