By:Babagana Bukar Wakil, Maiduguri
International has urged the Federal and state governments in Nigeria to put in place mechanisms that would ensure the protection of schools and other learning environments.
The organisation said from January to August, 2021, more than 1000 children were abducted in Nigeria, with so many of them still in the hands of their abductors.
The organisation, in a statement on Thursday by the Media and Communication Manager, Kunle Olawoyin, also said “as the world marks the second International Day to Protect Education from Attack, Save the Children is concerned about the persistent attack on schools, students and teachers in Nigeria.”
According to the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), between 2015-2019, there were 100 reported attacks on schools in Nigeria.
These attacks have been on the increase between 2020 and 2021, which led to the closure of many schools by the government.
In a recent Save the Children’s report, Build Forward Better, the DRC, Nigeria, Somalia, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Mali, and Libya have education systems that are at ‘extreme risk’ while Syria and Yemen follow closely behind.
The new data, which is the first of its kind, follows recent Save the Children research, which found that on average, children in low-income countries have lost 66% more of their lifetime school days during the pandemic compared with their peers in well-off countries.
The organisation added that in Nigeria, the number of out-of-school children, according to UNICEF, was 10.5million before the effects of the conflict, humanitarian crisis and COVID-19 pandemic were felt.
