ICRC Decries Rise in Missing Persons, Trains Journalists on Reporting

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday began a one-and-a-half-day training for journalists in Borno State, designed to enhance their skills in reporting on missing persons and families separated by over a decade of insurgency.

Held at the ICRC office in Maiduguri, the workshop brought together journalists from print and broadcast media.

During her opening remarks, Diana Japaridze, Head of the ICRC sub-delegation in Maiduguri, expressed concern over the growing number of missing persons and families still awaiting reunification after displacement caused by armed conflict, disasters, and violence in Nigeria.

“Due to the protracted conflict and violence in Nigeria, too many people are missing loved ones, with our caseload of those lost being the highest in Africa. Some people spend years searching for loved ones, often with no result. Families have a right to know their fate.”

“In the chaos of armed conflict, situations of violence and disasters, families can become separated in a matter of minutes, creating anguish and vulnerability and sometimes leading to long years of uncertainty about the fate of children, spouses or parents,” she added.

Japaridze explained that the workshop aimed to deepen participants’ understanding of key issues surrounding missing persons and family separation, equipping them with essential knowledge for reporting on such sensitive topics.

She called on media professionals to help raise awareness and highlight the plight of missing persons and their families.

“While States should raise public awareness of the problem of missing persons as a fundamental concern of international humanitarian law and human rights law, the mass media must draw the public’s attention to this problem and the needs of families of missing persons.”

“We hope the knowledge and discussions we are going to share and have during the training will help you, the media professionals, research on the topic more deeply, ask better questions, write quality content, and thus report it in a more professional, unbiased, and empathetic manner,” she said.