THE International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said about 24,000 people were missing in Nigeria.
The organisation stated this on Saturday, August 30, in Yola, Adamawa State, at an event commemorating the International Day of the Disappeared.
Addressing participants at the event, the Family Links Officer at the ICRC, Benson Lee, said children and teenagers made up the majority with 59 per cent of the missing persons.
The ICRC said more worrying was that 67 per cent of the disappearances occurred in Borno State, a region battling insurgency and insecurity.
The group said in 2024 alone, families worldwide reported over 94,000 new cases of missing persons to its global Family Links Network.
The group said this brought the total number of registered missing persons globally to an estimated 284,400.
“Though we believe the actual figure is significantly higher,” Lee stated.
He said these disappearances not only caused emotional tragedies but also compounded economic hardship and social displacement for families.
“Many families face psychological distress, legal and administrative nightmares, and the loss of breadwinners. The suffering is multilayered,” Lee said.
At the event, the Chairman of the Family Association of Missing Persons, Luka Wada, lauded the ICRC for its commitment to reconnecting families.
He estimated that around 80 per cent of missing person cases were directly linked to armed conflict.
He appealed to the government and humanitarian organisations to do more for families left behind.
Also speaking at the event, Chairperson of the Adamawa Peace Commission, Jamila Suleiman offered words of comfort. “As difficult as it is, we must place our hope in God. The commission is doing all it can to prevent future violence that could cause more people to go missing,” she assured.
Cases of missing persons have been rampant in Nigeria. The ICIR reported in 2023 that over 23,000 persons disappeared in the country under various circumstances, including insurgency and kidnapping, in less than a decade.
The Federal Government said the figure represented half of those missing in Africa within the same period.
The former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, states this while speaking at an event to mark the International Day of the Disappeared at the National Human Rights Commission on August 30, 2023.
She noted that a more efficient mechanism was needed to improve the reporting and forensically trace cases of missing persons in the country.
A reporter with the ICIR
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