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Families of Missing Persons exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and support each other in an international conference
Families of Missing Persons exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and support each other in an international conference
By: Michael Mike
Families of Missing Persons from Nigeria participated in the 3rd edition of the International Conference for Families of Missing Persons, which took place between 21-23 November 2023.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) hosted two conference hubs in Nigeria, in Maiduguri (Borno State) and Yola (Adamawa State) respectively, where families attended online global and regional peer-to-peer sessions and were granted opportunities to meet and exchange with other families from around the world whose loved ones went missing in similar circumstances.
Families gained inspiration on how they can continue to build and strengthen their family associations. Beyond supporting one another, family associations usually are those that raise awareness and advocate on the issue of the missing.
Engaging with peers brought useful insights on how families can be more strongly seen and heard by their peers, communities, and authorities. Families shared what it means to each of them to live while searching, and how to cope with the emotional, legal, economic, and social challenges, particularly when having a missing relative during an ongoing armed conflict.
“I still have hopes that my loved one will be found someday, and we will meet again,” said Sadiya Abubakar a member of the Family Association in Damare internally displaced community. “With the experiences shared in the conference I discovered that we are not alone on facing the pains of not knowing the fate of our family members who have been missing for long”.
The families also got the chance to meet with member states to the Global Alliance for the Missing, which Nigeria is member to. The Global Alliance for the missing is a group of states that has committed to raise awareness on the issue of missing persons and to collectively engage diplomatically on the issue.
A family member from Nigeria, the only member state from Africa, made a statement on behalf of the African continent, outlying the importance for other African States to join the Alliance. The statement urged states to work together to facilitate search and address the needs of families, adopt legislations on the missing persons and include the families in the process to ensure belonging, ownership, transparency, and accountability by ensuring access to information on how and where families can engage with authorities on the issue of the missing.
The conference brought together more than 700 families of missing persons from 50 different countries, in a hybrid format. Families physically gathered in 44 local “conference hubs” and joined multilingual online sessions tackling the most critical challenges they face around the world.
“The conference was an opportunity for families to gain the understanding that they are stronger together,” said Anne-Sofie Stockman, ICRC`s delegate in charge of searching for the Missing.
“Families continue to show extraordinary will to never give up searching for their loved ones, however long it takes.”
The ICRC works together with the Nigerian Red Cross Society to help and support families of the missing in their pursuit for answers. So far this year, we’ve been able to help locate more than 460 people missing due to the conflict.
Families of Missing Persons exchange experiences, discuss challenges, and support each other in an international conference
Police repel bandits, rescue six kidnapped victims on Yankara-Funtua highway in Katsina
By: Zagazola Makama
Police in Katsina State have successfully rescued six kidnapped victims after intercepting an armed bandit attack on Yankara-Funtua highway in Faskari Local Government Area.
Sources said on Jan. 24 at about 1:25 a.m., unidentified armed bandits blocked the highway and abducted six occupants of a green Honda Civic, registration number AAA 518 BC, en route from Funtua to Faskari.
The DPO Faskari, on routine patrol, promptly engaged the hoodlums in a tactical gunfight.
The bandits were overpowered and fled into the bush, abandoning their mission. All six victims, Rabi Hamisu, Safare Musa, Abubakar Samaila, Shehu Umar, Sara’u Yahaya, and Ibrahim Babangida, were rescued unharmed and safely returned to their homes.
Intensive patrols continue in the area, while efforts to apprehend the fleeing suspects are ongoing.
Police repel bandits, rescue six kidnapped victims on Yankara-Funtua highway in Katsina
Suspect arrested for trespassing, attempting robbery at Bauchi Emir’s palace
By: Zagazola Makama
A 20-year-old man, Umar Hamza, was apprehended Wednesday night for trespassing and attempting to steal from the Emir of Bauchi’s residence.
Sources said Hamza entered one of the Emir’s son’s rooms carrying a bunch of keys and tried to commit theft around 8:20 p.m. on January 23.
He was intercepted shortly after the act and taken into the Police custody for questioning.
Police said Preliminary inquiries indicate the suspect intended to steal from the palace.
Suspect arrested for trespassing, attempting robbery at Bauchi Emir’s palace
VP Shettima Returns To Abuja, Says Nigeria Firmly Back On Global Economic Frontline
By: Our Reporter
Vice President Kashim Shettima has returned to Abuja after a week-long diplomatic and economic mission to Guinea-Conakry and Switzerland.
This is just as he said Nigeria has reclaimed a frontline seat in global and regional policy conversations.
VP Shettima arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Saturday after representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the inauguration of Guinea’s President, Mamadi Doumbouya, and leading Nigeria’s delegation to the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos.
According to the Vice President, the trip is part of Nigeria’s renewed commitment to regional solidarity in West Africa and its determination to reposition the economy under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.
The Vice President had departed Abuja for Conakry, where he attended President Doumbouya’s inauguration, reaffirming Nigeria’s leadership role within ECOWAS, while opening new pathways for bilateral cooperation in agriculture and manufacturing.
From Guinea-Conakry, Senator Shettima proceeded to Davos, Switzerland, where he led the Nigerian delegation at the WEF 2026.
One of the highpoints of his engagements in that country was the commissioning of Nigeria House Davos, the Nigeria’s first-ever sovereign pavilion on the Davos Promenade, designed as a permanent investment hub showcasing opportunities in solid minerals, agriculture and the digital economy.
At a high-level WEF session titled, “When Food Becomes Security,” the Vice President outlined Nigeria’s new national food security framework, describing agriculture as a strategic pillar of national security and macroeconomic stability.
Vice President Shettima also joined former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun, to advance the Accra Reset Initiative, a forum advocating African industrialisation driven by domestic capital and value chains rather than foreign aid.
On the economic front, the Vice President told investors that Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators were stabilising, citing a projected 4.4 per cent GDP growth in 2026 and a decline in inflation to 12.94 per cent.
He also pointed to Nigeria’s imminent transition into a net exporter of refined petroleum products, anchored by the Dangote Refinery, and the growing export of digital talent.
VP Shettima Returns To Abuja, Says Nigeria Firmly Back On Global Economic Frontline
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