Over 17,000 People Still Missing in North-east, Says ICRC

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Despite the operational successes recorded by the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) in the war against insurgency, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has revealed that over 17,000 people displaced by the activities of Boko Haram terrorists across North-east, Nigeria were still missing.

The ICRC spokesperson, Aliyu Dawobe, disclosed this in Lagos at the end of a two-day training for journalists on humanitarian reporting.

Dawobe said the figure was initially over 24,000, but was reduced to over 17,000 because the ICRC had lost contact with some of the affected families.

He, however, explained that as part of its humanitarian services, the ICRC was making efforts to trace the missing persons and reunite them with their respective families.

“Crisis in the North-east has been ongoing for over 16 years. Millions of people are in need of food. Over three million children from the affected families are malnourished.

“A lot of people have been separated from their loved ones for over 10 years. A lot of people have been displaced in the region,” he said.

Dawobe noted that the media had a greater role to play in informing the public about the terrible conditions of the affected persons.

He said the training was aimed at improving the skills of journalists in humanitarian reporting.

“The ICRC wants the media to take the lead in changing the pattern of reportage about people affected by conflicts in Nigeria.

“We want the stories to be focused on the sufferings of the affected people with a view to alleviating their pains.

“We want the media to raise concerns about the sufferings of people affected by the conflicts; to report real human-angle stories linked to the missing persons and the trauma they are facing,” he said.

He added that 50 journalists were selected for the training, urging the beneficiaries to utilise the opportunity to improve their reportage.

According to him, the training was to avail journalists of access to human-angle stories that will impact the lives of victims of armed conflicts in Nigeria.

Also speaking, a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano, Dr Bala Muhammad, said journalists needed to be updated on International Humanitarian Law (IHL), with a view to refocusing their pattern of reportage.

“The training is on humanitarian journalism and conflict reporting. We want journalists to find ways to ameliorate the sufferings and hardships faced by victims of insurgency, militancy and other crimes.

“We want journalists to always place the victims at the centre of their stories. Human-angle stories are the most important,” he said.