2,000 Killed, Girl-Child Suicide Bombers, Nigeria Still Gets Way Less Coverage Than Paris

Nigeria has suffered very deadly recent attacks from the terrorist organization Boko Haram.

Sixteen villages in and around Baga were attacked, killing up to 2,000 according to Amnesty International. The UNICEF Executive Director also confirmed this number. Also recently,?three female suicide bombers have attacked open markets, killing and injuring dozens. In the state of Borno, a girl believed to be only ten, had bombs strapped to her which detonated in a market, killing 16. A day later, in the state of Yobe, a market was attacked by two female suicide bombers,?killing three and wounding over 20 more.

Photo courtesy of www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org
photo courtesy of www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org

These are tragic attacks for the people of Nigeria. The idea that villages can just be wiped out and 2,000 killed in an influx of terror, is one that most of us cannot comprehend. Recently, an attack in Paris left 12 dead when the Charlie Hebdo journalistic center was attacked by Islamic extremists. The world came out showing its outrage. #JeSuisCharlie (“I Am Charlie”) trended worldwide on Twitter for days as people wanted to show their support for the French. Celebrities like George Clooney and Jared Leto brought this up at the popular Golden Globe Awards on Sunday. There was also a unity rally which brought together numerous world leaders, including Germany’s Angela Merkel and Israel’s Benjamin Netayahu.

There was no march in Nigeria. No mention at the Globes. No worldwide trend as popular as #JeSuisCharlie. I personally did not see it covered on the mainstream news except for quick blurbs here and there. The around-the-clock coverage we saw regarding the Paris attacks and subsequent marches, etc. shows the unequal attention given to violence depending upon where it has taken place. One has to wonder why something as egregious as 2,000 being slaughtered in a quick amount of time, or ten-year-old female suicide bombers, gets minimal coverage? Many believe that black/brown people just do not matter as much. After all, this is a key point in the #BlackLivesMatter movement; that there is a global degradation of darker skin so we have to amplify our voices to show that we do matter. The coverage that would happen if 2,000 people were killed in Paris would probably continue for months to be honest. But when this happens in Africa, it barely gets a quick mention.

There has been horrific violence in Africa before, from terrorists groups and the government. However, when it comes to the Sudan, the Congo, and other places of terror, I have gained most of my knowledge about it via my own research and/or social media, NOT from the mainstream media and television. I cannot even count how many tweets I have seen from people who only knew about the 2,000 killed in Nigeria from Twitter. The same can be said of the NAACP bombing in Colorado Springs recently.

I got into a twitter beef (so to speak) with CNN’s Chris Cuomo. I basically included him in a tweet where I asked why, in general, the news did not cover Nigeria in remotely the same way that they did Paris; that the French attacks have received a lot more attention. Chris responded that CNN and “New Day” had covered it but I kept telling him that the Paris attacks have dominated the news in a way that the 2,000 murdered in Nigeria had not. Chris tweeted me saying:

“…the idea that #ParisAttacks didn’t deserve precedence is asinine.”

Well why is that? I asked Chris this and he never responded. But this is an idea held by a lot of people. That of COURSE affairs in Europe must be more relevant than Africa. But why?

Is it because attacks on Paris threaten our?security in the United States more than attacks in Nigeria? Perhaps. Is it because we just don’t care about Africa as much and never have? Perhaps. Maybe it is a mixture of both of these things. However, the news needs to be held accountable. We need to look at terror worldwide and have a vested interest in human life, not just when it seemingly affects us more directly. This is not a crazy concept. People went nuts over these attacks in Paris because we care SO?much about freedom of speech and the press. However, Saudi Arabia just publicly flogged a journalist and we still are closely allied with them. We tend to support anti-freedom regimes and even terrorists when it is convenient to us, e.g. using their oil revenues.

Do you agree? Why?has Nigerian attacks received way less coverage?

 

I was born on January 13, 1990. I was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. I moved up north and attended the University of CT from 2008 to 2012. I currently also work at a law firm in Uptown Charlotte and have been helping with this organization entitled the National Independent Voter Coalition. My interests include: Politics (obviously), Basketball (playing and watching) and watching almost any sport, movies, reading, the law, human rights, entertainment, mostly Angelina Jolie and Beyonce. I am fun, caring, passionate, intelligent, and unique!