They came from the hills at night. Wielding machetes, knives and cutlasses, the raiders swept through three villages in Nigeria, cutting down women and children. Hundreds died. Generations were wiped out.
People die invisibly in conflicts in Africa every day, but last weekend's highly organised pre-dawn massacre near Jos was one the western media decided it could not ignore. Shocking images and testimony of an orgy of violence reached television, radio, web and newspapers in America and Europe.
But two months earlier there was another massacre near Jos. Similarly, innocent women and children were slaughtered, their bodies later recovered from wells and sewage pits. Similarly, hundreds died. This also received international attention – but significantly less. Analysis by the Observer found that in the three days following the January massacre, 14 articles appeared in the British press, totalling 4,584 words. In the three days after the March massacre, there were 25 articles in UK newspapers, adding up to 9,890 words. There is no obvious explanation, but a journalist close to the story in Jos offered a suggestion, wondering "if that had anything to do with the victims in January being Muslim and the victims now being Christian".
Among those quick to issue press releases condemning the latest violence was the Christian Solidarity Network, which "works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all". The Pope and Hillary Clinton made public statements that guaranteed coverage. Normally the death toll would be a guide to the level of interest, but in this case it was far from reliable. Figures fluctuate wildly. The first official toll from the January massacre was 326, although aid workers and religious leaders estimated it at 550.
Last week's figure was also in flux. Reports described "dozens" and "scores" of deaths, which soon became "hundreds". The BBC's news website headlined "500" for a few hours, but cautiously reverted to "hundreds".
The Plateau state information commissioner, Gregory Yenlong, said more than 500 had died. The state police commissioner, Ikechukwu Aduba, overruled him, saying the total was 109. "Various unwholesome figures credited to the information commissioner are fabricated and should be discarded."
Yet the New York Times quoted the Nigeria Red Cross saying that 332 bodies were buried in a mass grave in a single village. Human rights groups and religious leaders put the overall count at more than 500. A Reuters report noted: "Death tolls have been highly politicised in previous outbreaks in central Nigeria, with various factions accused of either exaggerating figures for political ends or downplaying them to try to douse the risk of reprisals."
Even the death toll in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dubbed "Africa's world war", has been challenged, with a study claiming that it may be half the accepted 5.4 million. Counting the dead remains an inexact science.
