More than a decade after Boko Haram’s insurgency began, thousands of people remain missing in Nigeria’s northeast, with many feared dead or still held by armed groups.
Among the most prominent cases is Leah Sharibu, who was 14 years old when she was abducted from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, in February 2018. While more than 100 of her classmates were released weeks later, Leah remains in captivity, reportedly for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.
The tragedy echoes the 2014 Chibok school abduction, in which Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from their dormitories in Borno State. More than 90 of them are still missing, despite several rescue operations and negotiated releases over the years.
But beyond these high-profile cases, there are countless lesser-known disappearances:
Villagers taken during night raids in rural Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe, farmers abducted from their farms, traders kidnapped on highways, families torn apart in the chaos of displacement, never to reunite.
The true number of missing could be far higher than reported, as many cases go unrecorded due to insecurity, stigma, and lack of communication in remote areas.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Maiduguri say:
“The pain of not knowing is one of the hardest things for a family to endure.
These are not just statistics they are people whose absence leaves a permanent gap in their communities.”
While Nigerian security forces have reclaimed large swathes of territory from insurgents, sporadic attacks and kidnappings persist in remote parts of the northeast, making rescues difficult. Families of the missing continue to call for greater search efforts, stronger intelligence gathering, and sustained humanitarian support.
For now, like Leah Sharibu and the unreturned Chibok girls, the fate of thousands remains one of the most painful legacies of the conflict.
Ubong Usoro for Nigeria Magazine
