By Amanda Korb
Staff Writer

On January 3rd and repeated on the 7th, in Baga, Nigeria, lack of news coverage failed to reveal a massacre. The total death toll amounted to nearly 2,000 individuals and a wipeout of two entire towns, at the hands of the infamous uprising terrorist group, Boko Haram. Recent before and after satellite photographs portray the reality of the attacks.
All in all, the insurgent group has caused approximately 10,000 casualties in the past five years. Boko Haram, which translates to “western education is a sin,” first revealed its capabilities to the public last spring when 300 girls were kidnapped. Although the group has been active since 2002, according to RT, it wasn’t until November 2013 that the United States Department of State declared them an official Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Of the 15 students on campus asked, not one was aware of the carnage that has occurred. In addition, as found by RT, the US spends an average of $8.2 million daily to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but it is spending almost nothing to fight the extremities in Nigeria.
“I think we need to think of it as all lives matter, all lives are important, all lives are significant. What happens in Africa, also has implications on what happens in the West,” said the University of Toronto professor of social justice education, Geroge Dei.
Many agree the lack of international response is heart breaking and that basic humanity cannot be excused based on cultural practices, political standing or location in the world. In the wise words of Martin Luther King Junior, “every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.”