Ag. IGP launches SOP on safe schools in Nigeria Initiative

… Organises Workshop on Safe Schools Initiative for Strategic Police Managers

The Acting Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, PhD, NPM, inaugurated the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) manual for Schools Protection Squad (SPS) and organized a workshop on the Safe Schools Initiative for Strategic Police Managers today August 9, 2023, at Abuja Continental Hotel, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja. This follows the recent establishment of the Schools Protection Squad, a high-profile special unit for the protection of schools and educational institutions across the country.

According to a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in Abuja on Thursday, the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) manual is a comprehensive document that provides clear guidelines for the smooth operationalization of the Schools Protection Squad (SPS).

It spells out the organizational framework of the unit, procedures for mobilization, and code of conduct for officers assigned to the unit. It equally provides procedures for collaboration with other security agencies to ensure a coordinated approach in tackling threats to schools and educational institutions.

The IGP enumerated some of the strategies to be employed by the NPF in the achievement of the mandate of the School Protection Squad to include the generation of information and development of intelligence, community policing partnerships, police-public cooperation, inter-agency collaboration, security and administration of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), deployment of logistic assets, humanitarian services, as well as training for school managers/teachers and members of the host communities on their roles in emergency situations.

The Inspector-General of Police, while noting that the initiative will commence with 18 pilot states which are more vulnerable, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), assured that the Police will diligently undertake the responsibility of safeguarding educational institutions against potential harms and threats, and urged all stakeholders to support the Federal Government, the Police, and other partners for the achievement of the initiative.