The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has disclosed that about 900 civilians were found in 2022 out of the 15,000 declared missing in the course of the Boko Haram insurgency in Borno and other parts of the North-East between 2015 to date.
The ICRC which added that according to its register, about 23,000 persons have been missing in the country as a result of various conflicts said it offers assistance to families separated by conflict or migration.
ICRC Protection of Family Links Team Leader, Lillian Dube, made the disclosure on Thursday at the commemoration of the International Day of the Disappeared held at Ngarannam, a former Boko Haram terrorists’ den in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
“This has been quite fruitful. Last year 2022, ICRC was able to locate 900 missing persons and united them with their families. ICRC also has the missing programme to show support to families who are missing their loved ones. We registered 15,000 missing persons in Borno and other parts of the North-East. There could be a lot of other missing persons not registered. Majority of the people were separated in 2015,” Dube said.
The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Field Officer ICRC Maiduguri Office, Ahmed Kyari, said the day 30th August is set aside to remember missing persons in conflicts, adding that the Boko Haram crisis has affected the people of Borno in their numbers.
He said for this, ICRC established an accommpaniers programme where some family members of the missing persons are given psychosocial support while they impact what they learnt onto other victims.
In his remarks, Head Sub- delegation of the ICRC in Maiduguri, Mr Serge Zogg, said he was deeply honoured to address the gathering and extend his heartfelt appreciation to families who are living through the agony of separation.
He said the ICRC is an impartial, neutral and independent organisation whose exclusive humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance.
“In Nigeria, we work with the vulnerable in the civilian population to protect their lives, dignity and safety. Our assistance runs in conjunction with the protection activities and provision of relief materials or supporting medical facilities,” Mr Zogg said.
Shettima Mohammed who lost his older sister 11 years ago to the Boko Haram terrorists, said he has been traumatised by the loss, adding that each time the door to his house opens, he would think his sister has returned.
Similarly, Fatima Bunu Malik who lost her uncle to terrorists eight years ago in Kukawa local government area of Borno State decried the frustration the loss has caused the wife of her uncle who died recently, leaving the couple’s three children orphaned.