Nigeria acknowledges 23,000 citizens missing in 10 years, attributed to insurgency
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Up to 23,000 citizens have been reported missing in the past 10 years as a result of insurgency and terrorism across the country, says Betta Edu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
The official figure refers to cases reported to the authorities and it may be far less than the total number when unreported disappearances are added.
Edu disclosed the reported cases in Abuja at a stakeholders’ engagement themed “Where are you now” to mark the International Day of the Disappeared.
She said the Nigerian figure is half the number of missing people in the whole of Africa.
She quoted the report on missing people released by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) being caused by insurgency North and South.
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A tip of the iceberg
“Today, over 23,000 persons are still missing,” Edu stressed, per Daily Post.
“However, it is likely that this is just a tip of the iceberg as a more efficient mechanism is needed to improve the reporting and forensically trace cases of missing persons.”
She said people going missing has become one of the most critical and long-lasting humanitarian consequences of armed conflicts, which demands sober reflection.
Edu affirmed the present administration is committed to curbing incidences of disappearance and there is need to facilitate and strengthen the legal frameworks that would substantially tackle the problem.
ICRC Head of Delegation Yann Bonzon disclosed more than 23,000 people registered by the Family Links Network in Nigeria never returned home, and remain missing.
“The actual number of missing persons is likely to be much higher, with Nigeria having more missing people than any other country on the continent,” he said.
