Off Message

What does it say about us and our news priorities when we show such little interest in the abduction and disappearance of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls?

A woman holds a sign at a protest rally in Lagos this week which called for the release of the abducted schoolgirls. Picture: AFP

Imagine this: 276 secondary school students at a London boarding school are abruptly rounded up by men in soldiers' uniforms. They disappear into the ether. The school is forced to inform parents that their children have been abducted. The school has no idea where they are.

There is an outcry. Parents are hysterical. They hire motorbikes and drive around London searching, but in vain. It's a maze out there and they don't know ...