Nigeria’s Worst Day – and No One Noticed

With as many as 2,000 killed and 10,000 fleeing, few in the world are aware of Boko Haram’s most deadly attack to date.

Since two terrorists affiliated with Al Queda attacked the press offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, killing twelve cartoonists/journalists and their security forces, the media has been obsessed with a saturated coverage as the drama played out. While the attacks were horrendous, and justified the world’s unity seen in response, we are left wondering why a blind eye and silent microphone is being given to the horrendous attacks in Nigeria, and why these deaths are no less deserving of attention.

Photo via Twitter

Photo via Twitter

“Hundreds of bodies – too many to count – remain strewn in the bush in Nigeria from an Islamic extremist attack that Amnesty International described as the “deadliest massacre” in the history of Boko Haram. Fighting continued on Friday around Baga, a town on the border with Chad where insurgents seized a key military base on 3 January and attacked again on Wednesday,” according to The Guardian.

“The multiday rampage focused on Baga and the surrounding towns and villages. The militants razed an estimated 16 towns around Baga, according to the BBC.

“These towns are just gone, burned down,” Borno State Senator Ahmed Zanna told NBC News. “The whole area is covered in bodies.”

The rampage has led to the deaths of an estimated 2,000 Nigerian civilians, and has sent approximately 10,000 people fleeing into neighboring Chad, according to the Associated Press.

Families were forced from their homes and executed outside the houses. Those who fled were “herded” toward a large lake, where they were forced into the water where they drowned. Others are still hiding and some have fled into neighboring Chad.

We are greatly saddened by the press’ obsession with optics and sensationalism. Many consumers of news make the sad assumption that their news outlet will certainly tell them everything important that they should know. Occupy World Writes has always defended free press and journalism. We hold these people in the highest regard. They are not the ones in the editorial rooms making decisions about what will run.

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