The Nigerian military says its troops in the 21 Brigade, 7 Division have a established a temporary school for children at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Bama town, Bama Local Government Area, Borno State.
The school, with over 3,000 children, comprised six military tents in which soldiers not on essential duty served as teachers, the military said in a statement on Sunday by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Sani Usman.
Mr. Usman, a colonel, said some of the IDPs, who were teachers before their displacement, also teach in the school. The school has a section on adult education for women, he said.
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), said to be impressed with the troops’ initiative, has assisted the Brigade with two additional tents and school bags for the pupils, while the Borno State Urban Education deployed a Principal to assist in the running of the school
Mr. Usman said the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Toby Lanzer, and the Borno State Government celebrated the recently held World Humanitarian Day with the IDPs in the school, and that they commended the efforts of the Nigerian Army for establishing the school.
Apart from helping the IDPs, the school will enhance civil-military relations, Mr. Usman said.
