The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has revealed that over 24,000 Nigerians have been declared missing by their families, with the highest number recorded in Borno State.
This was disclosed by María Toscano, Protection of Family Links Team Leader at the ICRC, during a media training held in Maiduguri.
She noted that the missing persons were still being traced by the organisation across the country.
According to Toscano, Borno had the highest number of missing persons, with about 9,000 out of the 16,000 registered by ICRC in the north-east.
She explained that the Bama Local Government Area of Borno state recorded around 5,000 cases, the highest in any local government across the country.
Toscano further stated that 71% of the missing incidents occurred between 2014 and 2015, during the height of the insurgency in the region. She also revealed that 65% of those missing were children at the time they disappeared.
Reuniting families
While efforts to locate and reunite families continue, the ICRC said it has made modest progress in 2024.
“Eleven persons have been reunited with their families this year, in addition to the 13 reunited earlier in the year,” Toscano said.
Despite these efforts, challenges remain. Toscano highlighted restricted access to conflict-affected areas and difficulty reaching families as major obstacles.
The Head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Maiduguri, Diana Japaridze, expressed deep concern over the growing number of people still searching for their loved ones years after being displaced by violence.
“Some people spend years searching for loved ones, often with no result. Families have a right to know their fate,” she said.
She emphasised that the trauma of not knowing what happened to a child, spouse, or parent is a heavy burden many families are still carrying.
“In the chaos of armed conflict, situations of violence and disasters, families can become separated in a matter of minutes, creating anguish and vulnerability and sometimes leading to long years of uncertainty,” Japaridze said.
Media urged to spotlight the crisis
The ICRC urged the Nigerian media to raise awareness and shed light on the humanitarian challenges faced by families of the missing.
“While States should raise public awareness of the problem of missing persons as a fundamental concern of international humanitarian law and human rights law, the mass media must draw the public attention to this problem and the needs of families of missing persons,” Japaridze said.
She encouraged journalists to improve their coverage by engaging more deeply with the topic.
“We hope the knowledge and discussions we are going to share and have during the training will help you, the media professionals, research on the topic more deeply, ask better questions, write quality content, and thus report it in a more professional, unbiased, and empathetic manner,” she added.
What you should know
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral and independent humanitarian organisation created to protect and assist people affected by armed conflict or violence. It operates globally with a strict non‑political mandate, promoting international humanitarian law and serving as a trusted intermediary in conflict settings
In Nigeria, the ICRC plays a vital role in conflict‑affected regions, particularly in the North‑East. It works with the Nigerian Red Cross Society to deliver essential services, emergency help such as clean water, medical support, cash assistance for livelihoods, among others
As of August 2024, 71,000 people across Africa are registered as missing with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a 75% rise from the number recorded in 2019. According to the committee, many more cases remain unregistered, and only a small fraction of those reported have been traced and reunified with their families
