School attacks force thousands to quit studies in northern Nigeria – Amnesty

Schools attacks in northern Nigeria
have grown more frequent and deadly this year,
forcing thousands to abandon their education,
with most of the violence blamed on Boko Haram
Islamists, Amnesty International said Friday.
"This year alone, at least 70 teachers and scores
of pupils have been slaughtered," the London-
based watchdog said in a new report.
"Thousands of children have been forced out of
schools across communities in northern Nigeria
and many teachers have been forced to flee for
their safety," Amnesty's deputy Africa director
Lucy Freeman said.
The report comes less than a week after heavily
armed gunmen stormed an agricultural college in
Yobe state in the northeast, Boko Haram's
stronghold, slaughtering 40 students as they
slept.
The name Boko Haram, roughly translated, means
"Western education is forbidden" and the group
has repeatedly attacked schools and universities
in its four-year insurgency.
"Between 2010 and 2011, attacks were mostly
carried out when schools were empty. However
since the beginning of 2013 they appear to have
become more targeted and brutal," the rights
group said.
A massacre at a polytechnic college in the
northeastern town of Mubi in October 2012
marked a new level of brutality for such attacks.
Extremists, likely from Boko Haram, ordered
students to leave their dorms in the dead of
night, slitting some of their throats while shooting
others, leaving more than 40 dead.
An official in northeastern Borno state, where
Boko Haram was founded more than a decade
ago, told Amnesty that 15,000 students in the
area have quit school amid the violence.
In many cases, schools have reportedly been
unguarded, prompting criticism about the
military's failure to protect civilians.
Amnesty urged Nigeria to "provide better
protection for schools."
Citing the country's main teachers union,
Amnesty reported that roughly 1,000 teachers
have abandoned their posts across the north
since 2011.
The Islamists have also claimed deadly strikes on
the police, military, churches, mosques and a
United Nations building.
In mid-May, Nigeria declared a state of
emergency across the northeast and launched a
massive offensive aimed at crushing the
insurgency.
Defence officials say their campaign has left Boko
Haram in disarray, with the group now only
capable of hitting soft targets.
While recent violence has largely been
concentrated in remote areas, hundreds have
been killed since May, casting doubt on the
success of the military offensive.
A toll earlier this year estimated that the conflict
has claimed more than 3,600 lives, including
killings by the security forces, but the current toll
is likely much higher.
Boko Haram has said it is fighting to create an
Islamic state in the mainly Muslim north of
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and top
oil producer.