The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), says Nigeria has the largest number of missing persons ever registered by the ICRC in Africa.
Mr Leonard Blazeby, the ICRC’s Head of Programme and Prevention disclose this at the International Day of the Disappeared (IDoD) on Tuesday in Yola.
He said since the beginning of the conflict in 2009 more than 25,000 persons were reported missing, to the ICRC and the Nigerian Red Cross Society.
“This includes more than two thousand (2000) cases that were registered after January 2021.
“The number of missing persons continue to rise every day, yet the ICRC knows that these figures represent a fraction of a wider undocumented humanitarian tragedy.
“I would like to highlight that these figures reveal a very alarming fact that children are particularly more vulnerable than adults to disappearance in Nigeria”, he said.
THE DAILY VENDOR learnt that more than half of the missing persons registered by the ICRC in Nigeria were minors at the time of disappearance.
In remarks, Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa commended ICRC for drawing the attention of people on those who were reported missing.
Fintiri who was represented by the state Head of Service, Mr Eddah Emos, assured government readiness to continue to support all partners in promoting peace and harmony in the state.
He appreciated the security agencies and all stakeholders for their contributions.
Fintiri further called on the relatives of the missing persons to take advantage of various support from ICRC.
Mrs Saso Ali, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Women Affairs also appreciated the ICRC for their humanitarian support in the state.
She described disappearance of people as a serious painful, adding that is better to see corpse than not having information whereabouts the person.
In his remarks, Mr Ayuba Umar Audu, who spoke on behalf of the families of missing persons, solicited the support of the state government over their challenges.
According to him, they need a law on the families of missing persons, adding that this will help address most of challenges faced by families of missing persons.
Audu commended ICRC for their psychosocial among other support given to them to have peace of mind on their missing loved ones.
