The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has advocated a national central database for Nigerians within and outside the country.
Speaking at a meeting for the establishment of a data bank for missing persons in Nigeria, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Professor Bem Angwe, said providing a data bank for missing persons affected by insurgency and other criminal acts has become necessary.
He said a centralized National Data Bank will help in tracking and documenting the number of Nigerians who are missing or displaced.
From different quarters, there have been conflicting reports as to the exact figures of missing persons including those displaced internally and Nigerian Refugees in neighboring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
A strategic team member of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign group however called for a broader data bank that will capture non Nigerians resident in the country.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp and the National Identity Management Commission have also pledged their support for a centralized national data bank.
With about one point eight million Nigerians said to be displaced as a result of the activities of insurgents, officials at the meeting believe that many Nigerians may actually be missing due to the absence of a centralized national database.
