Families still waiting as Red Cross traces 17,000 missing persons in Nigeria
By Hauwa Abdulrahman
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) say they are actively tracing about 17,000 missing persons in Nigeria as of July 2026, following a comprehensive review of cases across the country.
The organisations said the updated figure replaced the nearly 24,000 tracing cases handled by the Red Cross Movement over the years in Nigeria.
They, however, clarified that the reduction did not mean fewer people were missing, but reflected the number of cases for which the Movement was still able to maintain active contact with requesting families, a key requirement for sustaining tracing efforts.
“The humanitarian need remains significant,” the ICRC said, noting that thousands of Nigerian families continued to endure the emotional, social and economic consequences of not knowing the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones.
According to the organisation, the review involved months of outreach through telephone calls, bulk SMS campaigns, door-to-door visits, consultations with community leaders and cross-checking of available records.
It explained that while many families continued to receive support, others could no longer be reached after relocating, changing telephone numbers, returning to their communities or moving to areas inaccessible because of insecurity.
The ICRC said maintaining contact with requesting families was essential to the tracing process, as it enabled humanitarian workers to verify information, provide updates and pursue new leads that could help establish the fate or whereabouts of missing persons.
It added that active tracing could not continue without regular communication with families.
“Searching for missing persons is often a lengthy and complex humanitarian undertaking. Security challenges, repeated displacement and limited access to affected communities frequently delay or complicate efforts to locate missing individuals or gather reliable information about their whereabouts,” the organisation said.
According to the ICRC, it has, over the years, worked with the NRCS to trace missing persons through field missions, door-to-door searches, engagement with community leaders, telephone calls and collaboration with humanitarian partners across Nigeria and the international Red Cross and Red Crescent Family Links Network.
The organisations also facilitate phone calls, Red Cross Messages and other communication channels to restore contact between separated family members whenever possible.
The ICRC said the situation in Nigeria reflected a broader global humanitarian challenge.
It said that by the end of 2025, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Family Links Network had registered more than 227,000 missing persons cases worldwide, while noting that the figure represented only reported cases and was likely a fraction of the actual number of people missing globally.
Reaffirming its commitment, the organisation said every missing person represented a family waiting for answers and pledged to continue exploring every humanitarian opportunity to clarify the fate and whereabouts of those who remained unaccounted for.
It also urged families that had previously opened tracing requests with the ICRC, the NRCS or any other component of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to remain in regular contact by updating their contact details and sharing any new information that could support ongoing tracing efforts.
