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The Nigerian Twitter accounts you should follow to stay updated on the kidnappings

By Zack Beauchamp
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images
Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he covers ideology and challenges to democracy, both at home and abroad. Before coming to Vox in 2014, he edited TP Ideas, a section of Think Progress devoted to the ideas shaping our political world.

If you sometimes get the sense that the international press doesn't always know what it's talking about with respect to the kidnapping of hundreds of girls in Nigeria, you're not alone. After a social media campaign put the issue on the top of the international media docket, some of the commentary became more reflective of the journalist's preexisting biases than of the actual truth of the situation on the ground in Nigeria.

One antidote to that is going local: getting your news straight from Nigerians or other folks on the ground then. So I reached out to a few people familiar with the local media scene, and asked them to put together a list of worthwhile Twitter accounts and news sites to follow. Here's a curated list of what I learned — each header links to a Twitter account you can follow if you're so inclined, and here's a Twitter list of all 9 accounts you can follow to get all of them.

Obiageli Ezekwesil

Ezekwesil is a Senior Economic Advisor at the Open Society Institute, and a former Vice President of the World Bank. #BringBackOurGirls came from a line in a speech she gave about the kidnapping, and she's got a pretty large Twitter following which she uses to help coordinate the protests aimed at getting the girls home.

Alexis Okeowo

Okeowo is an extremely well-regarded Nigerian journalist. Her Wednesday dispatch in the New Yorker is one of the clearest, most insightful accounts of the search for the girls I've seen.

Tolu Olungesi

Based in the western Nigerian city Lagos, Olungesi writes poetry, fiction, and more reported work. He focuses on the Nigerian economy and is quite critical of the Nigerian government, seeing broader failings reflected in the Jonathan administration's handling of the Chibok kidnapping.

Archit Tiwari

Tiwari isn't Nigerian; he's an Indian commodities trader who lives there. But he knows Nigeria quit well, and is often quite critical of those who don't.

Sahara Reporters

A clearinghouse for work by Nigerian citizen-journalists. You can learn a lot just by perusing the site's front page.

Chika Oduah

She's a Nigerian-American freelance journalist currently working out of Nigeria. Her personal blog has a lot of interesting thoughts.

Will Ross

The BBC's Nigeria correspondent.

Punch

A popular Nigerian newspaper with a very strong social media presence.

'Gbenga Sesan

A relatively young Nigerian expert on information and communication technology. He leads a local NGO, and has been extremely active in #BringBackOurGirls on Twitter.

Correction: Obiageli Ezekwesil is a former World Bank vice president, not current as originally described. Apologies: that's been fixed.

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