CAPE TOWN - Authorities in Nigeria’s Katsina State say dogs and prayer sessions will be part of a new security set-up to protect students at schools from criminals.
This comes in the wake of several attacks on schools over the past few months that have seen hundreds of students kidnapped by armed forces in exchange for a hefty ransom.
More than 600 students have been kidnapped in Nigeria since December, with local and international observers saying the security situation is out of control.
According to reports, at the reopening of schools on Saturday, the state commissioner of education, Badamasi Charanchi, announced that new security measures will be put in place to prevent further attacks.
The BBC reported that in addition to a perimeter fence, five guards and a security post, dogs will also be deployed at public boarding schools.
Authorities in Nigeria have said that there will also be at least three daily prayer sessions at all public schools in the predominantly Muslim state to pray against attacks from bandits, reported the BBC.
According to the UN Children's Fund (Unicef), Nigeria has one of the world's highest numbers of out-of-school children, at 13.2 million.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has come under fire in recent months over its handling of the dire security situation.
Human rights group Amnesty International said the attacks on schools and abductions of children were war crimes and those responsible ought to be brought to justice for these and other human rights abuses.
African News Agency