Children education a priority in conflict situation -UNICEF 

UNICEF Chief of Field Office in Borno, Mr. Maulid Warfa made the appeal in Maiduguri on Wednesday during the commemoration of the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.

Warfa said the over a decade of armed conflict in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states has affected the education of children with many of them out-of-school.

He said destruction of schools by the insurgents, occupation of schools by military, gender-based violence, lack of gender-segregated latrines and sanitation facilities in schools will constitute an affront on the rights of children to education.

“Any country that fails to protect children and their rights to education will eventually be covered in dark clouds. I know this because I had to flee from my village in my country when I was only seven years. I lived in a refugee camp almost throughout my teenage years,” he stated.

He said children were the most vulnerable population while education is equally the most vulnerable institution in the society that must be protected by authority.

“As UNICEF, we are standing shoulder to shoulder with the Borno State Government and other development partners to push the agenda to ensure that children are safe and they learn in safe and conducive environments,’’ he disclosed.

He commended the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for its support for education programmes in the northeast states.

While lamenting the impact of insurgency on children in the affected northeast states, he said the children have continued to bear the brunt of the neglect of the education sector the most.

Commissioner of education, Ayuba Bello who represented the governor recalled that many teachers and students were killed in various attacks on schools by the insurgents. He said Borno State  government