The tents being provided by soldiers to be used as classrooms

Beyond their main duty of clearing all vestiges of Boko Haram group from the territory of Nigeria and neighbouring countries,  officers and men of Nigerian armed forces are taking time out to help offer succor in various ways to victims of the over five years insurgency that has displaced hundreds of thousands in Northeastern Nigeria.

A Soldier attending to pupils in the ‘classroom’

Colonel Sani Usman, acting director, Army Public Relations said in a statement on Sunday that to further assist victims of insurgency and enhance civil-military relations, troops of  21 Brigade, 7 Division Nigerian Army, have  established a temporary school for the children at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp located in Bama town, Bama Local Government Area of Borno State using military tents.

One of the pupils attempting an exercise on the blackboard

According to Colonel Usman, the school comprised six military tents in which soldiers  not on essential duty served as teachers.

He added that in addition, some of the IDPs who were teachers before  their displacement, also teach in the school which has a population of over 3,000 children.

The Brigade has also established a section of adult education for women.

The Army spokesperson said the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) also assisted the Brigade with two additional tents and school bags for the pupils, while Borno State Urban Education deployed a  Principal to assist in running of the school.

The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Mr Toby Lanzer, and Borno State Government celebrated the recently held World Humanitarian Day with the IDPs in the school and commended the efforts of the Nigerian Army for establishing the school.

Colonel Usman also said an American non-government organization (NGO), Empower54, equally impressed with  the fact that “despite the heavy responsibility of fighting off the terrorists daily, the soldiers are making time to teach the children”,  appreciates the soldiers of 21 Brigade for their selfless effort by establishing the school in a blog and hashtag.