More than half of Borno schools closed over Boko Haram

More than half of all schools in the northeastern state of Borno, Nigeria, are closed with millions of children unable to start classes this year because of the ongoing threat of Boko Haram, according to the United Nations children's agency.

Almost 1,400 schools have been destroyed in Borno during the armed group's eight-year rebellion, and more than 57 percent of schools are unable to open because of damage or being in areas that remain unsafe, UNICEF said in a statement on Friday.

An estimated three million children are now in need of emergency education support, it said. Nearly 100 children have also been used as "human bombs", so far this year.

"Children in northeast Nigeria are living through so much horror," said Justin Forsyth, deputy director of UNICEF, at the end of a three-day visit to Maiduguri, the epicentre of the crisis in the northeast.

"In addition to devastating malnutrition, violence, and an outbreak of cholera, the attacks on schools is in danger of creating a lost generation of children, threatening their and the country's future," he added.