Since the Boko Haram insurgency started in North East Nigeria nearly nine years ago, at least, 2,295 teachers have been killed and more than 1,400 schools have been destroyed, UNICEF has said.
It also said that since 2013, more than 1,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram in the region, including 276 girls taken from a secondary school in Chibok town.
This was contained in a statement released by the UNICEF, as it continues to call for the release of the remaining Chibok girls who were abducted in 2014.
“The four years anniversary of the Chibok abduction reminds us that children in northeastern Nigeria continue to come under attack at a shocking scale.
“They are consistently targeted and exposed to brutal violence in their homes, schools and public places,” said UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall.
According to him, the recent attack on a school in Dapchi in which five girls lost their lives is just the latest indication that there are few safe spaces left for children in the region.
“These repeated attacks against children in schools are unconscionable. Children have the right to education and protection, and the classroom must be a place where they are safe from harm,” said Fall.
He noted that most of the schools that have been destroyed have not reopened due to extensive damage or ongoing insecurity.
Fall reminded the authorities of their commitment to making schools safer and more resilient to attack while reassuring that UNICEF stands with them to implement the Safe Schools Declaration, by which the country commits to protecting schools and universities from violence and military use during armed conflict.
