Katsina state government has approved the deployment of dogs to complement security efforts to secure boarding schools in the State.
The Commissioner for Education, Dr Badamasi Charanchi, told The Nation that the decision was to complement efforts of security personnel attached to each boarding school.
He said: “We were advised to deploy these dogs at each school because they have special abilities to detect any intruder faster than human beings in many instances.
“These dogs, when deployed will alert the students and other security agents in case of any intruder or bandits whenever they are coming.
”It was advice from the security agencies and we find it expedient because of the current security situation. Even most of the police stations and rich men have dogs to facilitate and assist security and the vigilante groups.”
Governor Bello Masari said his administration has re-enforced the security architecture of the boarding schools before reopening them.
According to him, apart from deploying five security guards, a perimeter fence was erected with a security watchtower in the boarding schools.
Bandits invaded Government Secondary School, Kankara last year and took away 342 students who were later rescued by security agencies.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
