The International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, has disclosed that about 17,000 missing-person cases remain under active tracing across Nigeria.
Most of the cases are linked to insurgency, armed conflict, communal violence, disasters and displacement, particularly in the North-East and other conflict-affected areas.
The disclosure was made ahead of the International Day of the Disappeared, observed annually on August 30 to draw attention to the plight of missing persons and their families.
Speaking during an awareness campaign in Yola, the Protection of Family Links Delegate at the ICRC office in Mubi, Emeline Montel, said about 3,000 of the documented cases were from Adamawa State.
Montel explained that the figures represented cases reported to the ICRC by families seeking assistance to locate their missing relatives.
The number represents a reduction from the 23,659 cases previously reported. However, the ICRC clarified that the change does not mean 6,000 people have been found or that fewer Nigerians are missing.
According to the organisation, the 17,000 figure reflects cases in which it can still maintain contact with affected families and continue active tracing following a comprehensive review of its records.
Some families could no longer be reached after relocating, changing their telephone numbers, returning to inaccessible communities or moving again because of insecurity.
The ICRC and Nigerian Red Cross Society have worked on approximately 24,000 missing-person cases over the years through telephone calls, community engagement, home visits and collaboration with humanitarian partners.
The organisations also help separated relatives restore contact through the Red Cross and Red Crescent Family Links Network.
Relatives of missing persons held a sanitation exercise, street-cleaning programme and remembrance campaign in Yola as part of activities preceding the International Day of the Disappeared.
Participants said the initiative was intended to draw public attention to the emotional and economic hardship experienced by families whose relatives remain unaccounted for.
A member of the Association of Families of Disappeared Persons, Habiba Mustapha, said four members of her family were still missing.
Mustapha, who was displaced from Gwoza in Borno State to Adamawa, said the disappearance of her relatives had subjected the family to prolonged emotional distress and financial hardship.
“The disappearance of my relatives is a continuing source of emotional stress and economic difficulty. Some of these missing persons were breadwinners,” she said.
“Our children are not going to school. Look at me here in a completely new environment.”
The ICRC stressed that its records cover only cases reported to the Red Cross Movement and should not be interpreted as the total number of missing persons in Nigeria.
It urged families with existing tracing requests to maintain contact and provide updated information that could help investigators pursue new leads.
