Boko Haram, Nigeria, Ebola .... what does it all mean?

One of my friends, who is generally well informed, tells me that the Boko Haram gang has always been a ploy to get the Nigerian govt. to tow the line of interested parties both inside Nigeria and outside it. The reason being that Nigeria was becoming economically very steady and is considered to be the topmost economical power in Africa. He said he had even seen something about Nigeria joining up as a partner with South Africa in the BRICS fold, or even as a full member of the group. I pooh-poohed my friend's opinion and was told to keep my eyes open to see how many negative stories on Nigeria come out on a daily basis ... not only about the Boko Haram atrocities but other political stuff that would not usually make it in the Western MSM when similar happens to other African countries.

I thought I would look into my friend's claims. Below, just a few from the most recent news.  

From MorningStarNews:
Massacre in Predominantly Christian Gwoza, Nigeria Said to Leave 100 Dead.
Boko Haram shooting, fire-bombing and slashing terrify fleeing residents.
After weeks of sacking villages and destroying church buildings around Nigeria’s northeastern town of Gwoza, Islamic extremist group Boko Haram on Wednesday (Aug. 6) killed an estimated 100 people in the predominantly Christian town, sources said.
The shooting, fire-bombing and slashing of men, women and children in Gwoza, Borno state, as initially the military reportedly fled before an insurgent force backed by international terrorist groups, began at about 4 a.m., producing eyewitness assertions that Boko Haram, which seeks to impose sharia (Islamic law) throughout Nigeria, had taken control of the town of more than 276,000 people. Local residents reportedly said at least 100 people had been killed.....

From SowetanLive:
Boko Haram suspects kill 10, abduct 100 in northern Nigeria 
At least 10 people were killed and about 100 young men abducted by suspected members of Islamist terror group Boko Haram from north-eastern Nigeria, local newspaper Punch reported Friday.
Armed men attacked the village of Doron Baga in Borno State on Sunday, witnesses, who fled to Borno State capital Maiduguri, told reporters.
The young men had been kidnapped to be forcefully recruited into Boko Haram's ranks, said Doron Baga resident Halima Alhaji Adamu.
Her husband was killed during the attack, she said....

And, then there's a news item from Townhall USA which relies on the Baptist Press on something that a "Nigerian Relations Expert" has told the Baptist Press. Who is this "expert" who seems to know more than what the Nigerian press reports?

Nigeria death toll higher than reported. 
The death toll from Boko Haram's takeover of the predominantly Christian town of Gwoza is nearly 1,000, not the 100 included in many reports, Nigerian relations expert Adeniyi Ojutiku told Baptist Press.
The Nigerian military abandoned their weapons and fled Gwoza as Boko Haram attacked Wednesday (Aug. 6), burning government buildings, killing residents and taking hostages. Some residents managed to flee to the mountains bordering Cameroon and are without food or water; others made it 85 miles north to Maiduguri, Associated French Press (AFP) and others reported.......

YES ... Boko Haram is definitely playing havoc in Nigeria, but are some people purposely fudging the numbers to get a bigger slice of funds from certain sources to fight this menace.  Let's not forget that Nigerians are infamously known for committing fraud (or are those "I have million dollars for you" emails which seem to come from Nigeria, also a pre-conceived plan to demonize the country?)

 See how foggy the following info is.  It's just come out today.

From AllAfrica:
Nigeria: Chadian Troops Rescue Boko Haram Hostages.  
Officials say security forces in Chad have rescued Nigerians who were recently kidnapped by Boko Haram, a Nigerian militant group.
The abductees were snatched last Sunday by the militants in a raid on a Nigerian town near the border with Chad.
The militants, along with nearly 100 kidnapped Nigerians, were stopped at the border by Chadian soldiers.
It was not immediately clear what the soldiers did with the Boko Haram militants and whether the rescued Nigerians were sent home.....

From IndependentUK:
Nigeria committing ‘war crimes’ to defeat Boko Haram.
The Nigerian government is terrorising part of its population and committing possible war crimes in its battle against Boko Haram, according to a documentary to be broadcast on Monday night.....
....Nigeria is now Africa’s biggest economy. But in the north, home to most of the nation’s 80 million Muslims, people are among the poorest in the country.
The north is the heartland of the Islamist group, Boko Haram. This  year alone, Boko Haram have killed more than 2,000 people, most of them civilians.....

And below, the LA Times manages to slur Nigeria and China in the very beginning of the article.

In Nigeria, child beggars are easy recruits for Boko Haram extremists
They scurry between vehicles in the traffic-choked cities of northern Nigeria, small boys in tattered clothing armed with begging tins.

Known as the almajiri, the youngsters, some no older than 5, have flooded the streets for the nearly 15 years since a tsunami of cheap Chinese imports and a dysfunctional electrical system began destroying the region's once-thriving textile manufacturing industry. Many more children have streamed in from rural areas since similar collapses of the fishing and agriculture sectors left their parents unable to feed them.......

Are you beginning to see the pattern, or do you need to see more?

It looks like Cameroon is dancing to the tune of those who wish to imprison Nigeria. The below from TodayNigeria:

BOKO HARAM: Cameroon orders military   to hide intelligence from Nigeria.
It has been revealed that Nigeria’s neighbour, Cameroon has issued a directive to all its military commanders in charge of border areas with Nigeria to keep all critical information about Boko Haram away from the country. In the directive, which was obtained by Punch, Mr. Rene Emmanuel Sadi, Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation reportedly told the commanders to withhold crucial information about the insurgents from Nigeria. 

Sadi, had in the letter with Decree no …G/D/MINATD, with the title, ‘Strong Message’ addressed to the Commander, Rapid Intervention Brigade, noted that Cameroon did not want the grave security situation in Nigeria to spill over to the country. He stated also that information on Nigeria from western countries portrayed Nigeria in a negative manner. He charged the Cameroonian forces to be vigilant along the border to prevent further spill over of Boko Haram violence into the country. The minister said the Cameroonian Head of State, Mr. Paul Biya, had charged all the units to ensure that activities of the insurgents were not allowed to get into the country........

And, see how the New York Times has woven in "Nigeria" in an article on Iraq which has no relevance in the least to Nigeria but the substitution of that word with "Libya" would have been more appropriate.

....After spending more than $1 trillion and losing some 4,500 soldiers’ lives, American politicians cannot dare reveal a dirty little secret: Iraq has since 2003 devolved into a combination of Lebanon and Nigeria — a toxic brew of sectarian politics and oil-fueled kleptocracy. The combination of religious rivalry and endemic corruption has hollowed out the Iraqi government, as evidenced by the country’s ongoing electricity crisis and the collapse of entire Iraqi Army divisions in the face of an advance by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, into Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, even though the Iraqi troops vastly outnumbered the militants.....

And, Ooooooo .... let's not forget the good Mr. Hillel Neuer with his 2 cents on Nigeria, while being so very mummy mum on Saudi Arabia and etc.etc.etc.etc.

Boko Haram Islamists now kidnapped dozens of boys. I again urge @UN_HRC to end its shameful silence on #BokoHaram. http://t.co/p2XfcdyTzL
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 17, 2014

Yes,  its true. Once you start questioning everything you read that the MSM throw in your feeding bowl, you begin to see how well-versed the MSM has become in doublespeak while most of us are still relying on the good old commonsense lingo.