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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed that 2, 295 school teachers were killed by Boko Haram and other related armed bandits in the North East from 2009 to 2020.
UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office in Borno State, Phuong Nguyen, who made the disclosure in an interview with an online portal, Premium Times, said poor attendance of schools in Northeastern Nigeria was exacerbated by armed conflicts and insurgency.
Nguyen said as a result of the insurgency in the North East 1,400 schools were damaged, over one million kids forced out of schools, while 2,295 teachers were killed between 2009 and 2020.
She explained that schools in Borno State were shut from December 2013 to June 2015, due to the escalation of the conflict, while in Yobe and Adamawa States, schools were also closed for a short period.
“In the first half of 2021, Borno faced a drastic reduction in humanitarian access with an escalation of actions of Non State Armed Groups (NSAGs) targeting teachers and threatening those who support educational activities.
Since the inception of the conflict in northeast Nigeria, education has been identified as a direct target of violence. As reported in the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) 2021, armed conflict, communal violence, natural disasters and resulting economic challenges have aggravated existing challenges and gaps in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States,” said Nguyen.
