So, Our Land is Red by Chineye Ochem has been receiving good attention.

Our Land is Red is the story of Gloria, a young girl with great dreams, living in Northern Nigeria. Focused on getting an education, she becomes a victim of the society she lives in.

This book depicts the current tragedies facing residents of some part of Nigeria, where their female children are kidnapped from their schools, the innocent citizens are murdered in their homes, farms, and markets, and the innocent young girls who were kidnapped are used as suicide bombers to attack other communities. This makes the book very timely.

In the book, Gloria and her friends are kidnapped while writing their final high school examinations, Gloria’s best friend is chosen among those used as suicide bombers to attack other communities. When Gloria is eventually released and returned to her village, she is shocked to find out that her parents had already been murdered by terrorists camouflaging as cattle rearers.

Check out the press release for Our Land is Red here

Check out what renowned African Literature enthusiasts have said about the book:

People sometimes mistake short stories for trifling vignettes that are over before they start, but they can be just the right length to have you deep in thought.
Our Land is Red  is one that manages to both be engaging and poignant with Chineye Ochem getting the juxtaposition between the big-picture “horrors of conflict” stuff and the personal, small scale stuff just right. Gloria is immediately a promising and vibrant young girl with a bright future ahead of her which makes the tragedy of unfolding events incredibly powerful. It’s in this way that Ochem reminds us how life can change in the blink of of an eye and nothing should be taken for granted.
By the end of the story, we absolutely feel for Gloria, who upon reflection is one of those tragic characters who can’t escape her circumstances. There are no answers here, and no saccharine ending, but you’ll keep looking deeper into this story to find your own.
–Book Viral

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“… #OurLandisRed  is one that manages to both be engaging and poignant with Chineye Ochem getting the juxtaposition between the big-picture “horrors of conflict” stuff and the personal, small scale stuff just right...” Book Viral.

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Sometimes, it is difficult to picture the reality of these killings and kidnappings because we are far away from where they are happening.
Our Land is Red paints that stark reality for you to imagine and come to terms with, such that you are able to identify with the sufferings (and losses) of the girl, her parents and the people at large. Truly heartbreaking. May God help Nigeria and heal our land. Amen.
— Pearl Allison

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… #OurLandisRed paints that stark reality for you to imagine and … identify with the sufferings … –Pearl Allison

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No medium has succeeded to vividly capture the activities of the unchecked terrorism and resultant irreparable loss and tragedy in Northern Nigeria as this fiction, Our Land is Red.
The victims of Boko Haram insurgency, as portrayed in the ‘Mercy’ character, and the victims of the herdsmen massacre, as portrayed in the ‘Jonathan’ and ‘Esther’ characters were well crafted and intelligently presented. Even as these happenings occurred at different times, the author was able to help the readers easily relate to the two horrific Northern bloodshed in a piece.
May the soul of these victims find rest. May their relatives, and we Nigerians, have the fortitude to bear the result of this dismal anomaly.
–Adebayo Basicony Ojo

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No medium has succeeded to vividly capture the activities of the unchecked terrorism and resultant irreparable loss and tragedy in Northern Nigeria as this fiction #OurLandIsRed – – Adebayo Basicony Ojo

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It is a thought provoking piece that brings home the reality of the travails being faced by our brothers in other parts of Nigeria. Sharon

— Startum Pages

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#OurLandIsRed is a thought provoking piece that brings home the reality of the travails being faced by our brothers in other parts of Nigeria. Sharon – Startum Pages

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