By Elizabeth Godwin
Over 24,000 Nigerians have been reported missing by their families, according to data from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Speaking at a media workshop in Maiduguri on Wednesday, María Toscano, the ICRC Protection of Family Links Team Leader, revealed that the international organization is actively tracing these missing persons amid ongoing conflict in the northeast.
Borno State bears the heaviest burden, accounting for about 9,000 of the 16,000 missing persons registered by the ICRC in the region. Toscano noted that the majority of these disappearances -71 percent – occurred between 2014 and 2015, a period marked by intense insurgency and violence. The Bama Local Government Area in Borno alone accounts for roughly 5,000 missing persons. Alarmingly, 65 percent of those reported missing in the northeast were children at the time they disappeared.
Despite these grim figures, some hope remains. This year, 11 individuals have been reunited with their families, in addition to 13 others who were reintegrated in early 2024. However, Toscano highlighted ongoing challenges, including limited access to conflict-affected areas and difficulties in making contact with families, which hamper the tracing efforts.
Diana Japaridze, Head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Maiduguri, expressed deep concern over the rising number of missing persons and the enduring anguish of families displaced by over a decade of armed conflict. “Some people spend years searching for loved ones, often with no result. Families have a right to know their fate,” she said.
Japaridze urged media practitioners to play a vital role in raising public awareness about the plight of missing persons and their families. She emphasized that while governments have a duty to highlight the issue under international humanitarian and human rights law, the mass media must also draw public attention to this pressing humanitarian concern.
She expressed hope that the media workshop would equip journalists with the knowledge and tools to report more thoroughly, empathetically, and professionally on the topic, ultimately helping to give voice to those affected by this ongoing crisis.
