Financial, Emotional Traumas Of Families In Search Of Missing Members

…Families urged to always report to police

The increase in number of missing persons in Nigeria has seriously impacted families facing the challenge, leading to financial and emotional distress, anger, guilt and most times they grapple with uncertainties about their missing loved ones.

This emotional trauma can manifest in health challenges, time off work and significant financial cost related to search efforts and social isolation for the families. It was gathered that the financial burden of searching for a missing person significantly affects families, often leading to severe economic hardship.

When a loved one goes missing, families incur substantial costs related to search efforts. These include travel expenses, legal fees and cost of hiring private investigators most times. Many families sell their assets, take out loans, or even quit their jobs to dedicate time to the search for their missing loved one.

Missing persons

A 4-year-old boy, Jamal Amo was playing with his peers in their compound at Lagos Island when suddenly he disappeared. According to the distraught mother Rukayat, she’s suspecting that someone lured him with something to take him away.

She said that she and her family members have gone round the whole community in search of him, but they couldn’t find him. “I have reported to the police station around us and pasted his pictures everywhere for people to help me in case they find him wandering around the area.

He is my first son, I am tired.” Another victim, a young lady was declared missing by her parents at Felele, Lokoja, Kogi State, but a few days later a young man was arrested and he took the police to where he killed her and removed her womb and private part.

The source said the lady was strangled by the suspect who was said to have dragged her into the bush when he noticed she’s has been declared missing by the police. Mr Chijioke on X handle recently called on Nigerians to help him locate his sister, husband and their two children who got missing on transit.

He said Ann Alechenu and her family were traveling from Lagos to Calabar on August 10, but unfortunately they didn’t arrive at their destination. It’s exactly a month now.

“We’re deeply concerned, we don’t know what happened to them, whether they were kidnapped or involved in an accident. The last contact with them was on the day they travelled, telling us that they were between Onitsha and Okigwe in Anambra State.”

Also, A 26-year-old man, Abdulahmeed Ebuka, was said to have left home at Abuja on September 7, 2024, wearing a blue shirt and white sneakers to go for a jog and has not returned since then.

Chibok girls

In the wee hours of April 14, 2014, Boko Haram seized 276 girls from their dormitories in Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State. While 128 have regained their freedom in batches over nine years, the whereabouts of 91 others remain unknown.

The abduction which made global headlines was spearheaded by the late Abubakar Shekau. Some of the girls were forced to marry insurgents and those who refused to comply were subjected to excruciating hardship.

On May 2016, one of the girls, alongside her six-month-old baby and a Boko Haram member to whom she was forcefully married were rescued by members of the Civilian Joint Task Force.

Five months later, 21 others were released after a swap deal brokered by the Swiss Government and the International Committee of the Red Cross. While in May 2017, 82 others were released, following another negotiation with the terror group.

Four months earlier, another Chibok captive, Rakiya Abubakar Gali, was rescued with a child. In 2018, another victim, Salomi Pogu, was rescued. There was no further successful release for three years until 2021 when another four Chibok girls regained freedom, two escaped and two others were rescued.

Meanwhile, their parents have pleaded with the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, to use her influence to bring their daughters back home. According to their parents, “We are haunted by the memories of that night when our girls were taken from us, and every day, we pray for their safe return,” the parents said in a letter to the First Lady.

“We have not lost hope, Your Excellency. We have not given up on our daughters and we will continue to fight for their freedom until they are brought back to us.

“We urge you to use your influence and your platform to ensure that the plight of the Chibok girls is never forgotten, that justice is served and that those responsible for this heinous act are held accountable.”

24,000 Persons Missing In Nigeria – Red Red Cross 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Africa says 24,000 individuals in Nigeria have been registered as missing, with over half being children at the time of their disappearance.

The ICRC stated that in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, volunteers from the Nigerian Red Cross have been working to deliver Red Cross messages to many families who have lost contact with their loved ones due to armed conflict.

Mr. Patrick Youssef, ICRC’s regional director for Africa, disclosed this figure in a statement issued to mark the International Day of the Disappeared, observed on August 30.

This day is to raise awareness on the plight of the missing, honor their memories and the emotional distress of families and focused attention on the need to help prevent and respond to issues of missing persons.

He noted that across Africa, 71,000 individuals were registered as missing as of June 2024, marking a significant 75% increase from the previous recorded number in 2019. Youssef explained that prolonged armed conflicts, devastating natural disasters, and treacherous migration journeys have all contributed to the alarming rise in missing person’s cases.

He emphasised that behind every missing person, there are countless others suffering from the anguish and uncertainty, describing it as a humanitarian tragedy with farreaching societal consequences.

“In Nigeria, the ICRC registered around 24,000 people as missing, which likely only represents a fraction of the total number. More than half of these cases involve children at the time they disappeared.”

Security Expert’s View 

A security expert, Mr Femi Adebayo, told our correspondent that families of missing persons always experience a wide range of emotions, including shock, fear, guilt, anger, depression, and anxiety. “They also experience feelings of helplessness and a sense of loss.

They also feel a sense of isolation as they struggle to cope with the situation and the unknown.” He said: “Families of missing persons often have no facts to clarify whether their loved ones are alive or dead and if dead, where is the remains located.

Such loss is called “ambiguous loss”, and those suffering from it will usually resist change and will continue to hope that the missing person will return one day.

“Families of abductees grapple with the uncertainty surrounding their loved ones fate, leaving them with memories of family members who which lingers persistently in their thoughts.

This state of limbo profoundly disrupts one’s ability to make sense of one’s world, fostering a unique psychological strain marked by guilt, helplessness, and dwindling hope.

“When someone is missing it is important the family of such person immediately report to a nearby police station for immediate action, sometimes you see family of missing persons going to paste the pictures of such a person on a paper and write a phone number on the paper so as for people to contact them.

“This is not always the best, the best way is to report to the police authority who will investigate and radio their various stations and divisions in the state with the person’s picture. In a nutshell, it’s a bad experience.”

Police

When contact for comment on the number of of missing person’s cases the command is receiving daily, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Benjamin Hundeyin, promised to get back to our correspondent, but has not responded until the time of going to press.