“They Set the Classrooms on Fire”

Children look through a destroyed classroom window at Yerwa Primary School, Maiduguri, Borno state, damaged by Boko Haram during attacks in 2010 and 2013. The school, established in 1915, was the first primary school in northeast Nigeria. © 2015 Bede Shep
Children look through a destroyed classroom window at Yerwa Primary School, Maiduguri, Borno state, damaged by Boko Haram during attacks in 2010 and 2013. The school, established in 1915, was the first primary school in northeast Nigeria.   © 2015 Bede Sheppard/Human Rights Watch
School girls walk home after class in Maiduguri, Borno state, September 2015. They are among a small group of students still able to study in the northeast. Many other schools have been closed.
School girls walk home after class in Maiduguri, Borno state, September 2015. They are among a small group of students still able to study in the northeast. Many other schools have been closed.   © 2015 Bede Sheppard/Human Rights Watch
Students in class underneath trees at Nahuta Primary School, Potiskum, Yobe state. Teaching has been taking place outside since the school was burned by Boko Haram in October 2012. © 2015 Mausi Segun, Human Rights Watch
Students in class underneath trees at Nahuta Primary School, Potiskum, Yobe state. Teaching has been taking place outside since the school was burned by Boko Haram in October 2012.  © 2015 Mausi Segun/Human Rights Watch
A lecture theatre at the Federal College of Education, Kano, Kano state, destroyed when Boko Haram insurgents lobbed grenades and shot students taking classes on September 17, 2014. At least 27 students and two lecturers were killed in the attack.
A lecture theatre at the Federal College of Education, Kano, Kano state, destroyed when Boko Haram insurgents lobbed grenades and shot students taking classes on September 17, 2014. At least 27 students and two lecturers were killed in the attack.  © 2015 Bede Sheppard/Human Rights Watch
‘Hassan’ a student injured by a suicide bomber at the Government Science and Technical College, Potiskum, Yobe state, in November 2014. He was unable to return to school for more than a year due to the serious injuries to his legs. Twenty-six other studen
‘Hassan’ a student injured by a suicide bomber at the Government Science and Technical College, Potiskum, Yobe state, in November 2014. He was unable to return to school for more than a year due to the serious injuries to his legs. Twenty-six other students in the school were killed.   © 2015 Mausi Segun/Human Rights Watch
A block of classrooms at Nahuta Primary School, Potiskum donated as part of a project for the Millennium Development Goals was destroyed during Boko Haram attacks in Potiskum, Yobe state, in October 2012.
A block of classrooms at Nahuta Primary School, Potiskum donated as part of a project for the Millennium Development Goals was destroyed during Boko Haram attacks in Potiskum, Yobe state, in October 2012.   © 2015 Mausi Segun/Human Rights Watch
A sign welcoming children to Yobe Children’s Academy, Damaturu, Yobe state. The school was attacked by Boko Haram in July 2012 leaving one teacher dead and 32 classrooms and nine school offices destroyed by fire. It reopened three months later with only a
A sign welcoming children to Yobe Children’s Academy, Damaturu, Yobe state. The school was attacked by Boko Haram in July 2012 leaving one teacher dead and 32 classrooms and nine school offices destroyed by fire . It reopened three months later with only a quarter of the student population. © 2015 Bede Sheppard/Human Rights Watch
An eager student leads her class in learning the alphabet in September 2015 at a displacement camp housed at a school in Maiduguri, Borno state. © 2015 Bede Sheppard, Human Rights Watch
A young girl displaced by violence from the extremist group Boko Haram studies in a makeshift classroom in Nigeria's Borno state.  © 2015 Bede Sheppard/Human Rights Watch
Internally displaced children attending classes at a displacement camp in Maiduguri, Borno state, September 2015. © 2015 Bede Sheppard, Human Rights Watch
Internally displaced children attending classes at a displacement camp in Maiduguri, Borno state, September 2015.  © 2015 Bede Sheppard/Human Rights Watch
A boy at the Kano school for children orphaned by the Boko Haram conflict. The Kano state government “adopted” 100 orphaned children from Borno in April 2015. © 2015 Bede Sheppard, Human Rights Watch
A boy at the Kano school for children orphaned by the Boko Haram conflict. The Kano state government “adopted” 100 orphaned children from Borno in April 2015. © 2015 Bede Sheppard/Human Rights Watch
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