The disclosure by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that Nigeria has the highest number of missing persons ever registered by the organisation in Africa is another worrying signal about the state of our country. According to Leonard Blazeby, the ICRC’s head of programme and prevention, 25,000 out of 64,000 missing persons reported are from Nigeria. “This includes more than the 2000 cases that were registered after January 2021. The number of missing persons continues to rise every day, yet the ICRC knows that these figures represent a fraction of a wider undocumented humanitarian tragedy,” Blazeby said.

At a time the nation is grappling with the challenge of human trafficking, it is worrisome that many Nigerians are leaving their homes and workplaces without returning. Indeed, the sheer numbers of hitherto unaccounted for people is a pointer to the gravity of the situation. For the affected families, living through the ordeal of having a relation missing can be a most traumatic experience. The anxiety generated in such situation is far worse than in established cases of kidnapping, wherein the release of victims could be conditioned on the possibility of reaching a deal with the abductors.

Perhaps no case highlights the plight of missing persons in the country more than that of Abubakar Idris, (popularly known as Dadiyata), a 34-year-old lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State. For the past four years, his family has since joined several others in Nigeria who cannot account for the whereabouts of their father, mother, daughters, sons, uncles and other loved ones. Such is the regularity of this occurrence that a civil society organisation, ‘Enough is Enough’ has opened a website to document the trend.

Available records reveal that some missing persons have been found after some days, weeks or months, sometimes in locations far away from home. But others are never found, thus prolonging the anxiety of their family members who would forever wonder: Were they kidnapped or involved in road accidents? Were they victims of rituals? Did they suddenly miss their way? Did they step into a dangerous drain hole? Are they dead? Are they alive?

Saso Ali, permanent secretary, ministry of women affairs, described the disappearance of people as a painful experience, adding that “it is better to see a dead body and bury it than to have to wait probably all your life for a missing relative.” Yann Bonzon, head of delegation for the ICRC in Nigeria, said insecurity is the biggest reason for the increased disappearances in Nigeria. “There are over 35 active armed conflicts in Africa today. Thousands of people cross borders, the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety and better life each year. Such movements often entail great risks, including the risk of disappearance,” he said.

Whatever may be the reasons; this is a serious national security issue. The uncertainty of families of missing persons is heightened by a feeling of hopelessness and despair, especially when there is no official place to which they can receive succour. In other societies, the realisation that the country provides a platform for reporting and tracking missing persons offers a sense of hope, perhaps of possible tracing and eventual reunification. The obligation to clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing persons arise from the fact that their relatives have specific needs. These include administrative, economic, psychological and psychosocial support and the need to have their suffering acknowledged.

Beyond reporting to the police, there must be other avenues by which the families can seek public support with the assurance that the lives of their loved ones whose whereabouts cannot be accounted for matter.

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