The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has unveiled a radio tracing programme in Borno to reunite 3,000 missing persons with loved ones.
Its Protection Data Analytics Officer in Maiduguri, Ms Sidika Nasiru, said no fewer than 24,000 people including children are separated from their relations nationwide due to conflicts with about 16,000 from Borno alone due to insurgency.
She said that the tracing programme being run on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) (Peace FM Maiduguri) involves repeated announcements of the names of missing persons with few details about them for possible identification.
Read Also: UN: $396m needed to scale up humanitarian action in Borno, others
“With the radio we hope to get wider reach to areas we cannot access due to the security challenge in reuniting families. The name listing programme is on Tuesdays at 10 am and it is repeated by 3pm in Kanuri language the same day.
“While on Thursdays the time is 10.30am and there is a repeat broadcast by 3pm in Hausa Language,” Nasiru said.
She called for public support in making the new programme a success. Nasiru said the public can call the toll free number: 08005004000 for information relating to the programme. She said that other approaches so far used by the ICRC reunited 150 children with their families.