To be utterly disgusted and appalled by the current killings in Nigeria.

[strivingtosucceed]

For those who don't know, Nigerians have been protesting against police brutality for over 13 days now. It's been an ongoing issue for a while, but tensions were heightened when a video on SM showed police killing a young man and driving away with his car.

Since then there have been protests all over the country, concentrated in the major cities Lagos and Abuja. On Tuesday afternoon the Governor of Lagos called an impromptu curfew. Protestors decided to stage sit in which ended with them being accosted by the Nigerian Army and fired on.

Eyewitness accounts have estimated that at least 78 people were killed, but the Lagos Governor has remained adamant that no-one died and refused to name who was at fault for the shootings.

How can the army of a nation shoot it's own people? It's absolutely sickening. If you're on twitter you can search the #EndSARS or #lekkimassacre hashtags for more information, but be warned there are some graphic and heartbreaking images.

twitter.com/manmustwack/status/1318987756442439680?s=20

This is horrific. No, I hadn’t heard.

Sad times when no one has the energy to care.

I had read about it in the news, it's just so awful, I really don't have the words.

YANBU and you are not the only one but Mumsnet isnt really a good place to discuss it. Most people on here either dont care or will just go on about "Africa" (see above) as one homogeneous mass where these things happen.

I have lived in Nigeria and still have friends there and they are really shocked and outraged - and not because they are naive about the general state of play in their country.

I have friends from Nigeria and meet their friends when they come to the UK. We all agree that there are no easy answers to all of the issues. A few weeks into lock down and the rapes, even of babies eent up. So did the usual kidnaps, ritual kilings (not helped by the Pastors telling everyone to ignore the science and give them money to get rid of the 'curse'). The government also started to have shops burnt out, so they had more of a control on distribution and pricing. For many years women have been ignored when they've reported being raped by the Police. People go missing, to be never seen again.

We've had the gas supply scandal and the unearthing of millions of pounds hidden by the government.

So it's not that we aren't interested, but what can we do exactly? We haven't stopped the killing of disabled/albino people, children being murdered as witches, corruption in hospitals that causes the deaths of thousands of new mothers and babies.

I have Nigerian news come up on my feed and there's a need to get the basics right first, the respect for life. But with the lack of education, cultural beliefs, women's rights, it's near impossible.

Then they have the issues with the radical Muslim fractions, on top of all the rest.

There's similar issues across India/Bangladesh ect. Personally I think a rise in Women's rights and women being more involved would help, but they are being kept down by the use of extreme violence.

Diamond 4u - I'm so sorry you feel that way, tbh I did think about starting a thread myself but I don't really know much about the situation and I find it hard to find words that express how I feel about this. I'm a white woman who cares deeply. I just see people suffering and want it to stop.

@diamond4u

Unfortunately OP, anything to do with coloured people or Muslims get zero attention and very little replies here on MN

Unless of course it involves extra precious white lives.

I think it's more nuanced than that. Nigeria has been failing itself for many years as have some other African countries and people are just immune to it. It's something that appears to be impossible to fix and when that happens people stop noticing. Plus it's far away I guess.

Their African neighbours are sick to death of these places spreading their misery and corruption and lets lot forget book harem who were Muslims targeting fellow Nigerians. Not white people.

Boko Harem I mean. Not innocent sweet Muslims innocently targeted by bad white men.

"Unfortunately OP, anything to do with coloured people or Muslims get zero attention and very little replies here"

My Nigerian friends are Christian. The daily killing of them, by the Muslims, get no attention. So lets not make this a anti Muslim thing.

We had a lot of discussion about BLM. Taking part was myself (my Father was from SA), Nigerians, Zimbabweans and a couple from Ghana. They are all in the UK because in their countries BL don't matter and black women's lives even less.

I don't know if it's downplayed because the far right will sieze upon institutional racism as a Police/Power one and not based in racism.

@LemonChiffon

Well, it's Africa, isn't it... so no-one is really that bothered.

Imagine this happening anywhere else, Europe, US, Australia, there would be a global outcry, headlines for weeks, and rightly so, but its in Africa, so people just don't care that much.

Tragedies in Africa get far less coverage than elsewhere in the world.

But to answer your question, yes, it's terrible.

It’s not that people aren’t bothered, it’s that people now know about stuff that they never knew about (seeing that it’s happening across the world) and feel completely helpless to stop it. These are corrupt regimes and any time the west have got involved in wars they were nothing to do with us then the outcome has been worse for the people.

Would Nigeria be interested if our police force were shooting us? Would their civilians be outraged on our behalf? I’m guessing not because they have their own troubles and they are far, far away.

I think that the British mainstream media has become far more narrow in recent years, and even the BBC is more likely to cover entertainment news rather than world affairs.

It's not on the front page of BBC website, but is first story on the Africa page

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54657352

It is horrific and I am saddened (but not surprised). Having said that, I don't think the muted coverage is due to it "just" being an African country - you see a similarly muted response to news from the Eastern block, such as the Belarus conflict.

On the plus side, 30 years ago you would not see such widespread protests being organised on social media or the Government losing control of the narrative in the way that they have. With a handful of well-publicised exceptions, the world is getting better connected, better educated and wealthier. That gives me hope for the future.

Would Nigeria be interested if our police force was shooting us?

An awful lot would know about it and be horrified. I lived in a tiny village (no electricity) in rural Nigeria during the 1990s and people listened to the world service. They were utterly horrified by the Dunblane massacre and there was a lot of discussion about how such a thing could happen. And I found out that Lady Diana had died when about half the village showing up in my compound offer their condolences.

@SpookyTheGhoulfriendScarer

I've seen videos where ordinary african villagers drag children to the centre of town and take turns beating them within an inch of their lives then put a car tyre around their neck, fill it with petrol and set it on fire. Crime - Stole food or similar. So no, your post doesnt shock me.

Isn't that specifically a South African thing?

I wondered what the #EndSARS was about. Awful, but not shocked as such.

Isn't that specifically a South African thing?

No. It is most commonly associated with SA but it happens in Nigeria too(and other countries, not just African nations). The most famous case in Nigeria would probably be this. www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/world/2012-11-28-necklacing-murder-of-students-shocks-world/ but it has happened before and since then.

@PhilSwagielka no necklacing happens (although not frequently) across West Africa. It tends to be in towns though, not villages- where people know each other and their is a coherent community structure they have other ways of policing themselves.

It may be horrific but the very poor have no capacity to absorb theft and therefore have very little tolerance for it. The converse is, when everyone plays the game, there is (in the villages) a widespread network of support (although that doesnt mean you wont go hungry, hunger is normal).

I can imagine. When resources are scarce, you want to preserve everything you have.

It is gutting but not shocking. I have very close ties to Nigeria, specifically Lagos and Yorubaland.

It is more than anything so frustrating that most Nigerians I speak to and see commenting online have a really clear vision for their country (of course not all the exact same), the changes they would like to make and what policies they would like to see implemented, including effective measures in anti corruption, anti terrorism and a reform of the law enforcement system (including the policing issues in question here).

Yet it is so dangerous to put one's head above the parapet and make these eminently reasonable requests publicly. It's partly why people end up sucked into these huge, corrupt commercial churches, prayer can feel like the only outlet for pushing for change when action is so risky.

How I love the OED ...