14,500 Missing In N’East As Families Groan

As the world marked the International Day of the Disappeared, families across Nigeria’s North-East continue to live with the pain and uncertainty of not knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Recent figures from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) show that more than 17,000 people are registered as missing in Nigeria, with over 90 per cent of the cases linked to armed conflict and insurgency in the North-East, as well as banditry and mass kidnappings in the North-West and North-Central regions.

Of the figures, about 9,000 cases are recorded in Borno State, 3,000 in Adamawa and 2,500 in Yobe, bringing the number of missing persons in the three North-East states to about 14,500.

Insurgency remains the major cause of disappearances in the region, leaving thousands of families trapped between hope and grief.

Behind the figures are parents, siblings and relatives who have spent years searching for loved ones who disappeared during the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency.

A Daily Trust finding shows that many families have endured years of anguish, while some have also lost the few photographs and personal belongings that could help them preserve the memories of those who disappeared.

For Kashim Mohammed, the pain of losing his 30-year-old half-sister, Falmata Mohammed, remains as fresh as it was 14 years ago.

Falmata and her mother had decided to leave Maiduguri for Port Harcourt after becoming exhausted by repeated Boko Haram attacks. But she went missing during the journey.

Years later, rumours and eyewitness accounts suggested that she had been abducted by a criminal gang and taken across a river towards the border.

The family later found a glimmer of hope when an informant claimed to have seen her alive. But the informant died before providing further information, cutting off the only lead available to the family.

Mohammed suffered another painful loss when the September 11 flood that devastated Maiduguri washed away a metal box containing Falmata’s photographs from childhood to adulthood.

With no photographs left, he now relies on his memory to recall her appearance and generosity.

“I recall when I was in school, she sold her television set, gave me the whole money and encouraged me to continue with my education.

“She was the firstborn of my stepmother. I will never forget this,” Mohammed said.

Mother’s shattered world

Hajja Yakura Abatcha’s life changed forever 12 years ago when Boko Haram attacked Baga town.

As families fled towards Chad by boat, Yakura lost three of her children — Habu, eight; Abba, 10; and Aisha, nine.

Years later, a visitor from Baga gave her a glimmer of hope, claiming to have seen a girl resembling Aisha in Darussalam, Chad.

The woman collected Yakura’s last photograph of her daughter and promised to help locate her. She, however, disappeared without a trace, taking the photograph with her.

The loss of her husband and three children pushed Yakura into a mental health crisis.

“A few weeks later, I lost my senses and barely remembered or recognised anything,” she recalled.

Although relatives helped her recover and she later remarried, she was widowed again.

Her daily prayer, she said, remains the same.

“I only supplicate to God to reunite me with my children, or forgive them if they are dead.”

‘I cried until I became blind’

Ba Modu Ali has also lived with the pain of losing his favourite daughter, 13-year-old Adama, who was abducted by Boko Haram terrorists in Gambarou Zanna Ari more than a decade ago.

Eyewitnesses told him that the insurgents held a gun to the girl’s mother, his wife, before taking Adama away.

Ali said the trauma and prolonged grief affected his sight.

“I cried until I became blind. Now I can barely even see my own hand, but the pain is still very fresh in my heart. I keep remembering her tender smiles and our closeness,” he said.

Maryamu Daniel, a grieving widow, has also spent 13 years searching for her missing son, Yunana.

She said her son was abducted while farming with his brother.

“Yunana was abducted while farming alongside his brother,” she recalled.

She said his brother managed to escape, but Yunana was taken away.

“I dialled his phone number endlessly, praying for a ring, but there was only dead silence from his end. To this day, the search continues. We are still looking for him, holding onto whatever faith we have left,” she said.

Maryamu expressed appreciation to the ICRC for its tracing efforts but appealed to the government and security agencies to intensify the search for missing persons.

Eli Zanna Saleh is searching for his 20-year-old daughter, Bebilo Zanna, and his 26-year-old sister, who disappeared during a Boko Haram attack on Mayenti, a town in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State.

Saleh said the attack forced residents to flee into the bush, adding that Bebilo had only recently got married.

“The attack happened during the turmoil, and they fled into the bush along with my sister, who had also previously lost her husband and remarried. Since that dark day, we have received zero information about their whereabouts or whether they are even still alive,” he said.

He said the uncertainty had left him constantly anxious, particularly whenever he heard that families of Boko Haram members or abducted persons had surrendered to the military.

“Even as we are talking right now, I just received word that some surrendered women are currently being held in Bama. I am preparing to travel down there immediately to check if I can finally find them,” he said.

Saleh also regrets not having photographs of his missing relatives to preserve their memories if they are confirmed dead.

A ray of hope

Amid the pain and uncertainty, the story of Zarami Bukar offers hope to other families searching for missing relatives.

Bukar was reunited with his four sons after 11 years of separation, after he registered their disappearance with the ICRC.

Months after submitting their details, he received a message from one of his sons confirming that he was alive and being held at the Kainji confinement centre in Niger State.

“I immediately wrote back to him, letting him know that his siblings and family were surviving under my care, though I had to break the heartbreaking news that one of his wives had passed away during the turbulent years,” Bukar said.

Through the intervention of the ICRC and security agencies, all four sons were eventually released.

“They were first transported to Gombe State for comprehensive deradicalisation and psychological rehabilitation, and afterwards, they were officially handed back to me and the rest of our family,” he said.

The ICRC remains one of the major organisations supporting families of missing persons through tracing and other humanitarian services.

More than a decade after the insurgency tore families apart across the North-East, thousands of relatives continue to live in painful uncertainty.

For them, the tragedy is not only the disappearance of their loved ones but also the absence of answers about whether they are alive or dead.

Natural disasters have further deepened the pain for some families by destroying photographs and other personal belongings that served as lasting reminders of those who disappeared. (Daily trust)