The Boko Haram insurgency has kept over one million children out of school, the UN children's agency reported today, highlighting fears that a lack of education will fuel further radicalism in and around Nigeria.


Over 2,000 schools are closed across Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, while hundreds of others have been attacked, looted, or set on fire by Boko Haram jihadists in their quest to create an independent Islamic state, said UNICEF.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has given his military commanders until the end of the month to end the Boko Haram insurgency, but even if victory is possible analysts say his government will have to contend with social turmoil stemming from a generation of children who have not gone to class. "The longer they stay out of school, the greater the risks of being abused, abducted and recruited by armed groups," said Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF regional director of West and Central Africa.