Security consultant and lawyer Bulama Bukarti has said that efforts to safeguard schools across Nigeria will remain ineffective unless insecurity in the wider society is addressed.
Bukarti spoke when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday night.
Commenting on the recent abduction of students in Oyo State and the broader security challenges facing the country, he said schools cannot be isolated from the communities in which they are located, stressing that attacks on educational institutions are a reflection of the wider insecurity affecting many parts of Nigeria.
“The idea that you can isolate schools from the rest of society and protect them from attacks while attacks continue in the rest of society is impossible. If you want to protect schools, you have to protect everyone in the society,” he said.
Bukarti also noted that schools have increasingly become attractive targets for criminal and terrorist groups because of the publicity and attention such attacks generate.
He recalled the 2014 abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram, describing it as a turning point that demonstrated the propaganda value of targeting educational institutions.
“What Boko Haram also understood from the Chibok kidnapping in 2014 was that abducting schoolchildren can bring attention and can serve as propaganda material for them,” he stated.
The security expert warned that unless authorities take comprehensive steps to improve security across communities, attacks on schools could continue despite efforts aimed specifically at protecting educational facilities.
