BBC’s Will Ross reports that, as a minute’s silence is held to remember the 38 people killed in Tunisia a week ago, Nigerians woke up to a different kind of silence following the reported killing of close to 150 people in Borno State. Official silence. Nothing from the military and nothing from the government, whilst the state-owned TV station led its morning news bulletin with a report on a diplomatic appointment.
According to BBC, no-one knows how many people were shot or had their throats slit by the jihadists who targeted several villages on Tuesday and Wednesday – it is impossible for people who are fleeing for their lives or rushing the injured away in wheelbarrows to stay back and count.
The fact that it took as many as 48 hours for any news of the atrocities to reach the main city in Borno State, Maiduguri, points to just how cut off and vulnerable these communities are.
BBC reports that Boko Haram may no longer hold territory but there is little to celebrate when large swathes of the north-east are clearly not under any kind of government control. (BBC).