Boko Haram Conflict In Nigeria, Neighboring Countries Kept Away 1 Million Children Out Of School

Since the rise of Boko Haram in northeastern part of Nigeria and its neighboring countries at least one million children have been forced to remain out of school, reveals a report by UNICEF.

Boko Haram is considered as the deadliest militant group in the world and its strategy to spread terror include attacking schools, kidnapping girls and killing teachers.

Their strategy has resulted with children becoming more susceptible to violence and child marriage.

Boko Haram seized a large area of the northeast Nigeria in 2014 and declared it an Islamic caliphate. Girls and women are more vulnerable to their attacks since then in the region.

According to UNICEF’s West and Central Africa regional director Manuel Fontaine, the violence by Boko Haram in the region has been a big blow for education, keeping children out of the classroom and putting them in dropout situation completely.

The terror group has forcibly closed over 2,000 schools across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger. They have killed at least 600 teachers too in Nigeria alone.

Before the rise of Boko Haram in the region the education system was already compromised and UNICEF report reveals about 11 million children of primary school age were out of school.

Nigerian officials said Friday the group is further planning of mass abduction similar to last year’s when more than 200 boarding school girls were kidnapped.