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But
if Beyoncé fell on stage, that'll be the front page. #PrayForNigeria
#TheMediaDontCareAboutUs
@MetroUK (Image credits and source: FASINA on Twitter)
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Social media users are
embracing the #PrayForNigeria hashtag, criticizing main stream media for
ignoring or underreporting the latest terrorist attacks there, as an outpour of
prayers and sympathy continues to flow to victims of Islamic State in Paris. The mainstream media
(MSM) has been focusing on stories related to France since the Paris attacks.
Hashtags such as #PrayforParis have been dominating social media, while attacks
by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) on Beirut, the capital of Lebanon; and
Ankara, the capital of Turkey, were largely underplayed by the mainstream
media.
Some
43 people were killed and hundreds wounded in two suicide bomb attacks in a
residential area of Beirut last Thursday, while explosions in Ankara last month
killed 102 people and injured over 400.
Meanwhile
in Nigeria, a total of 50 people died in two terrorist attacks targeting
civilians at market places over the last two days, with dozens more injured.
RT report continues:
Nonetheless,
the latest wave of mourning on social media has centered on a French police dog
that was killed during Wednesday’s anti-terror raid in Saint-Denis.
Messages
like “It was death for France,”“We respect your courage,”“RIP, brave police
dog” have filled Twitter.
Moreover,
the hashtags #JeSuisChien (I am a dog) and #RIPDiesel are currently trending on
the French and global Twittersphere in honor of the heroic canine.
Now,
people from around the world are pointing out that little attention has been
paid to the recent escalation of violence in Nigeria. The hashtags
#PrayForNigeria and #JeSuisNigeria have been used to call attention to the bias
shown by the disparity in the level of sympathy the Paris attacks have received
when compared to the scant empathy shown for Nigeria after the tragedies
there.
On
Twitter, @TYLRKAHLIL wondered: “when 147 Nigerians were killed, was there a
worldwide snapchat geotag? was there a #PrayForNigeria hashtag. Did anyone
care?”
“Where’s
the love? Where’s the support? Flags? Prayers? Hashtags? You hypocrites!!”
Twitter user @maripoza55 said, while @OmgItsSyy noted that “I don’t see any
Nigerian flags on people’s profiles..”
Meanwhile,
Sarah Agboola, a Nigerian girl, tweeted “It doesn’t matter where you are from
or what part of Nigeria you represent no one should be affected by this.
#PrayForNigeria”
While
Ruth Crosby (@ruthannacrosby) said “More innocent lives lost & not a sign
of it in our media. #alifeisalife #PrayForNigeria”
Many
users criticized other countries for not recognizing the tragedies in Nigeria
and the gravity of situation there.
When
compared on Hashtagify, the #PrayForParis hashtag had received 71.6 popularity
points in contrast to only 47.4 points for #PrayForNigeria, which is very
close to the same amount garnered by the #JeSuisChien hashtag – dedicated to
the French police dog.
RT’s
Anissa Naouai has appealed to viewers not to forget other cities torn apart by
terror that don’t often make it into MSM news feeds.
“My heart is with Paris, but it is also with
Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq. No lines outside of their embassies, no hashtags, peace
signs, no viral status changes, no photo features on Facebook, nothing.
International terror doesn’t mean only when it hits Europe or Western countries,
it is global. So why don’t we treat it that way? Solidarity to France and to
all those other terror victims that never make the news,” Naouai said during
her show, In The Now.
Meanwhile
social media outrage has been fueled by a new report revealing that the
Nigeria-based Boko Haram terrorist group has actually killed more people than
Islamic State.
The
Global Terrorism Index published by the Institute for Economic and Peace (IEP)
said that the two terrorist groups were responsible for over a half of the
killings in 2014. Together they were responsible for 51 percent of all global
fatalities claimed by any group in 2014, and almost 40 percent of all
fatalities.
However,
the Nigerian jihadists, who pledged allegiance to IS in March 2015, killed more
people than their fellow Islamists, claiming 6,644 lives compared to 6,073
killed by Islamic State. Nigeria accordingly experienced a staggering 300
percent rise in deaths from terrorism in 2014, although other militant groups
share partial blame for the increase.
The
violence in Nigeria has been quickly escalating. On Wednesday, two large
explosions triggered by suicide bombers killed 12
people and wounded 66 at a mobile phone market in Kano, Nigeria’s main northern
city.
The attack comes just one
day after a blast left
32 people dead and 80 injured at a market in the northeastern city of Yola.
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