What about the Nigerians?

As more than 1,00,000,000 people marched through the streets of Parish - including several heads of state - to protest the Charlie Hebdo murders committed by Islamic terrorists, Nigerian Christians were mourned the massacre of some 2,000 inhabitants of the northern Nigerian city of Baga at the hands of Boko Haram, a Islamic terrorist group aimed at creating a caliphate in Nigeria. And the world paid little attention. Consider this:

25 are dead in this photo. Nigeria massacre last week saw 2000 die. No world leaders here. No flags at half mast. pic.twitter.com/HsxcYqkKRc
— No Justice No Peace (@drumbeats4peace) January 12, 2015

After years of bloodshed and destruction wrought by Boko Haram, some people are finally now beginning to pay attention to what has been happening in the north of Nigeria. The Guardian's Maeve Shearlaw yesterday was bold enough to ask a very important question: "Why did the world ignore Boko Haram's Baga attacks?"


There are no easy answers to this question, but as I continue to watch Boko Haram spread and grow, I cannot help but ask the same question.

Speaking with the Fides News Agency yesterday, His Excellency the Most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama, Archbishop of Jos, said:

I am thinking about the big demonstration which took place in Paris against the killings in France. I hope even here a great demonstration of national unity will take place, to say no to violence and find a solution to the problems plaguing Nigeria

I hope he does not have to wait long to see such demonstrations, in Nigeria and elsewhere, but given that Boko Haram has been active for several years now - as I've been demonstrating here - and the world has largely ignored it, this seems unlikely.

Even Pope Francis has said very little about those suffering under Boko Haram, which declared the creation of a caliphate last September. Yesterday he condemned the human trafficking taking place there, though not Boko Haram, saying,

Sadly, comparable acts of brutality, which not infrequently reap victims from among the poor and the most vulnerable, are found in other parts of the world as well. I think in particular of Nigeria where acts of violence continue to strike indiscriminately and there is a constant increase in the tragic phenomenon of kidnappings, often of young girls carried off to be made objects of trafficking. This is an abominable trade which must not continue! 

How long will the world be silent? How long must the Nigerians wait before we march in solidarity with them? How will until we have worldwide day of prayer for them?