24,000 Nigerians Still Missing Since 2015, Red Cross Sounds Alarm on Humanitarian Crisis

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has revealed that over 24,000 Nigerians have been reported missing by their families since 2015, marking a disturbing trend in the country’s humanitarian crisis. The disclosure was made during a media workshop held in Maiduguri, Borno State, where the Red Cross highlighted the immense scale of the crisis, particularly in the conflict-ridden North-East.

According to officials, Borno State alone accounts for nearly 9,000 of the missing persons, with the Bama Local Government Area bearing the highest burden, recording approximately 5,000 missing individuals. Of the 24,000 cases documented nationally, around 16,000 are from the North-East region.

The ICRC’s Protection of Family Links Team Lead, María Toscano, stated that 71 percent of these disappearances occurred between 2014 and 2015, the peak period of insurgency in the region. She further revealed that 65 percent of the missing in the North-East were children at the time they vanished, underscoring the extreme vulnerability of minors in conflict zones.

Despite numerous challenges, including limited access to high-risk areas and communication barriers with affected families, the Red Cross has made modest progress. So far this year, 11 individuals have been successfully reunited with their loved ones, following 13 reunifications completed in the previous year.

Speaking during the event, the Head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Maiduguri, Diana Japaridze, lamented the psychological and emotional toll on families still searching for missing relatives. She emphasized the right of every family to know the fate of their loved ones, noting that years of separation often lead to prolonged anguish and uncertainty.

She described the chaos of armed conflict as a devastating force that can fracture families in moments, leaving behind silence, trauma, and unanswered questions that may last a lifetime.