Since 2013, more than 1,000 kids abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria: UNICEF

At least 2,295 teachers have been killed and more than 1,400 schools destroyed by the Islamist extremists

AFP | PTI  |  Lagos 

Nigeria, Chibok girls, boko haram
FILE PHOTO: A public art installation by Nigerian artist Sarah Peace depicting the missing Chibok girls [Image released to the public domain]

As prepares to mark the fourth anniversary of the Chibok kidnapping, reported on Friday that over 1,000 children have been abducted by since 2013.

"Since 2013, more than 1,000 children have been abducted by in northeastern Nigeria, including 276 girls taken from their secondary school in the town of Chibok in 2014," said in a statement.

"These repeated attacks against children in schools are unconscionable," Mohamed Malick Fall, a representative in

Boko Haram's fight to establish a hardline in northeast has claimed at least 20,000 lives and displaced more than two million people.

Schools, particularly those with a secular curriculum, have been targeted by Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates from Hausa -- the language spoken widely across northern -- as "Western education is forbidden".

At least 2,295 teachers have been killed and more than 1,400 schools destroyed by the since the conflict started in 2009, according to

While a 2015 offensive launched by Nigerian President

Muhammadu Buhari successfully reclaimed swathes of territory back from the in Nigeria, the group still stages deadly attacks on both military targets and civilians. In February, the Islamists shocked by driving unopposed into the northeastern town of Dapchi and kidnapping over 100 schoolgirls.

Most of the girls have since been returned, but the brazen abduction revived painful memories of the in 2014.

Of the 276 girls kidnapped by from the northeastern town of Chibok on April 14, 2014, over 100 are still missing.

First Published: Fri, April 13 2018. 08:17 IST