The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, says the United Kingdom will continue its partnership with Nigeria on the Safe School Initiative.
Montgomery, who disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, said the UK remained part of the international coalition that established the initiative in 2014.
He said the UK’s partnership with Nigeria will be supporting Nigerian authorities to respond faster and better to cases related to insecurity in schools.
The commissioner explained that the UK and Nigeria have similarities in areas of law enforcement, security and intelligence led operations, adding that the UK share lessons through the Office of the National Security Adviser as part of Security and Defense partnership.
According to him, the SSI partnership is with the federal, state and local government authorities in Nigeria, saying the UK coordinates the initiative alongside other development partners.
Montgomery said the SSI provides small amounts of support to schools to create safe spaces within school environments.
The envoy explained that the support is an educational assistance to schools and work with other partners like UNICEF experts to promote safe spaces in schools.
He observed that security agencies have huge tasks to create safe spaces in schools, adding that they cannot be in every school at the same time.