Red Cross Urges Journalists To Project Victims Of Conflict

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has tasked journalists to highlight the human consequences (victims) of violence in reporting conflicts such as malnutrition, injuries and other traumatic experiences.

The ICRC gave the charge during a media roundtable organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Lagos.

This comes weeks after the ICRC revealed that it discontinued tracking of 7,000 missing persons due to lack of contact with their families.

Records show that 17,000 active cases of missing persons are being tracked across the country with the hope of reuniting them with their families.

The training brought together 50 journalists from across Nigeria (divided into two batches of 25 each) to build capacity in Humanitarian Journalism, Conflict Reporting and International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

The Public Relations Officer of ICRC Aliyu Dawobe said the training session aimed to equip journalists to highlight human-interest narratives over raw figures and criminal sensationalism.

According to him, the overarching mandate of the workshop is to reframe conflict reporting in Nigeria – shifting the focus away from perpetrator-centric narratives and abstract statistics toward human-centered victim stories, context-driven analysis, and adherence to humanitarian protection standards.

He clarified that the 7,000 inactive cases remain stored in the database and will be reactivated whenever family inquirers re-establish contact with the ICRC.

He highlighted that the ICRC aims to connect journalists to key humanitarian themes such as missing persons, family separation, trauma, sexual violence, and acute hunger/malnutrition with a view to bringing them to the attention of the people.

He added that the promotion of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) aims to educate reporters on IHL principles to inform armed actors and encourage compliance, ultimately reducing civilian suffering during conflicts.

With this we aim to shift media coverage toward long-term recovery—such as restoring access to farmlands, livelihoods, and education rather than sole dependency on aid.

The facilitator, Dr Bala Muhammad, a lecturer of Mass Communications at Bayero University Kano, pointed out that traditional coverage often turns perpetrators into the “champions of the news” by focusing strictly on violence and destruction.

He therefore urged a shift toward humanizing victims and providing actionable information guiding affected populations on where to find clean water, medical aid, food and psychosocial support.

He stressed that effective journalism must answer why conflicts happen and provide depth and context rather than superficial event reporting.

He reminded journalists to uphold their fundamental humanity above professional ambitions. “Do not forget your humanity in the search for excellence… be humans first before you are anything else,” he said.

He added that journalists must prioritise the “Human Angle” by focusing on individual stories of survival, resilience, and hardship rather than abstract death tolls or banditry tallies.

“Report on practical solutions and resources available to victims (aid locations, medical centres, tracing services).

“Use media platforms to educate both the public and armed actors on international laws protecting non-combatants during conflict.

“Give visibility to agricultural and economic challenges, advocating for land access and community self-reliance,” he said.