Dapchi Girls - 10 Questions Police Leadership Must Ask...

It is now 14 days exactly since 110 girls were abducted from their secondary school in Dapchi, Yobe State Nigeria.

Within over 200 hours flight time, Nigeria Airforce and other Nigeria Security Agencies have been unsuccessfully in the safe return of the girls similar to the incident of the #ChibokGirls who were abducted in April 2014.

With serious concerns about insecurity in the educational sector; the police leadership in a given area are duty bound to map out the way their command would address security challenges and mitigate against it

The following ten questions must be addressed by the police leadership in their jurisdiction:

1. As the police command carried out a security risk impact assessment?

2. Based on the impact assessment, do they have a designated senior officer assigned responsibility for school security in their jurisdiction?

3. As the police command setup a school security committee in their area of command?

4. Are selected police officers provided with specialist training on school security management?

5. What early warning system is embedded in all schools within their area of command?

6. As the police establishment provided the schools within their command guidelines and protocol for the management of security in their respective vicinity?

7. Does the police command provided sufficient resources to activate an incident room (or establish a command and control centre) in the case of an emergency?

8. As the police leadership setup a designated telephone line to handle emergency issues and gather intelligences from the public?

9. As the police leadership employed the service of a media consultant to train designated police officers on how to convey into the public during major incidences?

10. Does the police leadership have regularly monthly or quarterly meeting to discuss community tension issues and strategic re-deployment of police assets to address these challenges? 

Unfortunately the Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria Armed Forces, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, had been unable to visit the scene of the unfortunate abduction or fly over it; whilst he has been heavily criticised on the social media for his failure to visit Yobe State

Some security analysts have suggested that the President's lack of visit might be linked to the ongoing insecurity challenges posed by Boko Haram in that area and lack of sufficient evidence to support the assertion that #Boko Haram does not possess the Surface to Air Missile which could directed at the President's aircraft

There is no suggestion so far that to confirm that the President refuses to visit Yobe State for security reasons...

This is an extract from my latest book, "Nigeria School Security"