File photo shows Nigerian girls protest against the abduction of Chibok school girls by Boko Haram militants at the Ministry of Education in Abuja, Nigeria, April 14, 2015. The Day of the African Child has been celebrated on June 16 annually since 1991. It is marked to raise awareness of the continuing need for improvement of the education provided to African children. (Xinhua/Yang Yang)

ABUJA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- A total of 52,311 children in Nigeria's Borno State have become orphans following attacks by terror group Boko Haram in the country's northeast region.

Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State on Thursday told reporters in Maiduguri, the state capital, that some 54,911 women were also widowed by Boko Haram's mindless attacks.

According to Shettima, if not checked and put under control, this situation might cause an increase in the humanitarian crisis in the state and Nigeria's northeast region at large.

"If we fail to take care of these orphans and widows 10 to 15 years down the line; if we do not provide a good home for them, believe me, they will not take care of us," he said.

The official said the state authorities had identified education as a veritable solution to the challenge, noting the government was poised to invest in education together with various intervention programs launched in collaboration with the central government, the United Nations, and global development partners.

The Borno State authorities had also embarked on massive reconstruction and rehabilitation of residential homes, schools, clinics and public structures in communities liberated from the insurgents.

Boko Haram has been blamed for the deaths of more than 20,000 people and displacing of 2.3 million others in Nigeria since their insurgency started in 2009.