At least 22,000 people are missing in Nigeria due to Boko Haram insurgency in the North-east of Nigeria, the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, has reported.
In a statement, ICRC President, Peter Maurer, stated that nearly 60 percent of those missing were children and that it was the highest number of missing persons registered with the organisation in any country, Al-Jazeera reported .
“They were minors when they went missing, meaning thousands of parents don’t know where their children are and if they are alive or dead,” he said on Thursday at the end of his five-day trip to Nigeria
“Every parent’s worst nightmare is not knowing where their child is. This is the tragic reality for thousands of Nigerian parents,” Mr Maurer added.
Nigeria is faced with multiple conflicts, including attacks by the Boko Haram and the frequent clashes between the nomadic herders and the farmers.
Boko Haram – whose name roughly translates to “Western education is forbidden” – wants to establish an Islamic state based on a strict interpretation of the Islamic law.
The United Nations estimates that more than 27,000 people have been killed and an estimated two million others displaced in Nigeria’s Northeast because of the violence by the Boko Haram.
