Kidnap: College beefs up security to prevent recurrence

The Nigeria Tulip International College (NTIC) in Isheri, Ogun on Tuesday said it had re-engineered its security measures to ward off ugly attempts by hoodlums and kidnappers.

Mr Olayinka Aderoju, Senior Vice-Principal of the College, told newsmen in Lagos that the ugly incident of kidnapping early last year had both negative and positive effect on the college.

It should be recalled that five staff members and three female students of the school were kidnapped by gunmen on Jan.13, 2017.

The victims were, however, freed after 11 days, after payment of ransom and subsequent arrest of the perpetrators.

The Nigeria Tulip International School was formerly called Nigeria Turkish International School.

According to Aderoju, one of the negative effects was the bad publicity and the erroneous impression that the school management was negligent about security issues.

“This is not true.

“The incident also shook some parents’ confidence in the safety of their children in the college.

“At some time, the kidnapping saga tended to slow the enrolment of new students into the school.

“But we have gotten over that now and more students are seeking admission, even beyond our expectations,’’ Aderoju said.

READ: President Buhari condemns Yuletide killings

The VP said the sad incident had also awakened everyone’s consciousness that security and intelligence gathering should be a collective responsibility of all stakeholders of the school.

“After the horrible experience of the kidnapping, we can confidently say that we are better placed to fight subsequent attempts,’’ he told newsmen.

He explained that one of the positive effects of the incident was that all its security apparatus had been rejuvenated.

The VP said the top management of the college in Abuja had placed a premium on the security of the Isheri branch.

He said the school management had taken some tough security measures which could not be disclosed.