Katsina State government says it has deployed 280 dogs and 280 armed security personnel to the 56 secondary and tertiary schools across the state to protect students and teachers from bandits and kidnappers.
Katsina is one of the states plagued by bandits, who ransack schools and kidnap students for ransom.
This development forced the state to close schools after over 300 students were taken away by bandits from Kankara in December last year.
The state Commissioner of Education, Badamasi Lawal Charanci, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview with journalists.
Each of the 56 secondary and tertiary institutions across the state will have at least five local dogs and five armed guards.
The government will build perimeter fencing, provide security lights and security towers in all the schools.
The commissioner added that “each school will be given three to five dogs that will be attached to the security personnel.”
He however said the dogs to be deployed are local dogs.
“No funds will be used in acquiring these dogs. Already some schools have them,” he said.
He said the dogs provided were local species and no money was spent to acquire them as against what some people were saying.
The commissioner didn’t say if these dogs were trained, or if security officials were trained to handle them.
