Some children of Nigeria’s missing drop out of school, group chair says
A Maiduguri association says it assists about 600 children from affected families while relatives continue searching for the missing.
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A Maiduguri association says it assists about 600 children from affected families while relatives continue searching for the missing.
Some children from families of missing people in northeastern Nigeria have dropped out of school because relatives cannot pay for education and basic needs, community association chair Kashim Mohammed said.
Mohammed told Al Jazeera that the Association for the Well-being of Displaced and Missing Persons’ Families assists about 600 children from affected families, whom he described as orphaned. The community organisation is based in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.
Boko Haram’s armed rebellion began in northeastern Nigeria in 2009. Attacks, abductions and displacement have separated families, leaving relatives searching for people whose fates remain unknown.
When a missing person is a parent or breadwinner, relatives lose income while still needing to provide food, shelter and schooling. The association’s work has expanded beyond tracing missing people to helping families cope with those costs.
Mohammed’s sister, Falmata Mohammed, disappeared in 2011 while travelling with her mother from Maiduguri to Port Harcourt. He said unidentified gunmen abducted the two women. His search helped motivate him and other affected families to establish the association in 2023.
Muhammad Alhaji Bashir said his elder brother, Adam Muhammad Bashir, known as Bakura, disappeared around 2012 or 2013. Whenever the family heard that rescued people had arrived at a rehabilitation centre in Bulumkutu, they took Bakura’s photographs there, but nobody recognised him. Relatives continue searching without knowing whether he is alive or dead.
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Photographs help families identify people who have been rescued, displaced or found in unfamiliar communities. Without those images, relatives must rely on names, physical descriptions and memories.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, working with the Nigerian Red Cross Society, supports efforts to trace missing people and reconnect families. Mohammed said his association sometimes receives Red Cross notices containing names and details. These offer leads to pursue, but do not necessarily mean a relative has been located.
Association members meet monthly to share information and discuss their circumstances. Mohammed and Bashir’s families are appealing to anyone with information about their missing relatives as their searches continue.
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