Two weeks ago, 2000 people were slaughtered in Baga, Nigeria over the course of only a few days by the Islamic Militant group Boko Haram. In what can only be called a world-wide blind spot, these atrocities in Africa have been all but overlooked by the media, with no major news outlets making it a headline.
The Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris that killed twelve people, though tragic, has completely overshadowed the recent attack in Nigeria, even though roughly 177 times as many people were killed. Repeat: for every single person killed in Paris, 177 people died in Baga, and that is not even taking into consideration the additional tens of thousands who have been killed since the siege began, and the millions more injured and/or displaced by the violence.
Journalists have been struggling since the attacks to draw attention to Baga, with Daily Maverick contributor Simon Allison coining the phrase, “I am Charlie, but I am Baga too.” Thus far, the trend has not taken off, and the Nigerian attacks have yet to become a major news item anywhere in the western world.
Max Abrahms, a professor at Northeastern University and terrorism expert, has taken to social media to attempt to draw attention to the massacre:
It's shameful how the 2K people killed in Boko Haram's biggest massacre gets almost no media coverage: http://t.co/tYSnnfGpDb.
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) January 10, 2015
The tweet has fewer than a thousand retweets, however, and the topic is not trending anywhere on social media.
Africa has truly become the world’s blind spot, and this incident is just further proof of that. If 2000 people had been killed in a single terror attack basically anywhere else in the world, this would have been not only a boldface, 72 pt. headline, but it would have been trending worldwide with #IAmBaga.
Let’s take it upon ourselves to change that — this needs to go viral, and world leaders need to address the atrocities committed by Boko Haram. Africa cannot be lesser or unimportant just because it’s “them” and not “us.” They are us. We are them. I am Baga, and so are you. #IAmBaga
