How Modern-Day Slavery Persists Through Kidnappings In Nigeria – Soyinka

Renowned Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka has condemned the persistent abduction of schoolchildren in Nigeria, describing it as a continuation of modern-day slavery.

Speaking at a commemorative session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) ahead of the 2025 International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Soyinka lamented that “slave markets thrive all over the African continent.”

His remarks referenced the abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State by Boko Haram in 2014, a crime that drew global outrage. While some of the girls have been rescued, many remain unaccounted for.

Addressing UN officials, including President Philemon Yang and Secretary-General António Guterres, Soyinka warned that slavery is far from eradicated.

“Today, the new slavers simply wait for you and me to send our children to school, especially boarding schools,” he stated. “They descend on them, snatch them away, sequester them in the fastness of the forest, and then call on us to come and ransom them.”

Soyinka pointed out that kidnappings are a daily occurrence in Nigeria and the West African subregion, cautioning that Chibok was just one of many such incidents. “The name Chibok is familiar to all of you, but you have no idea how many Chiboks there are, especially in the West African subregion,” he said.

The 90-year-old playwright also reflected on the broader implications of slavery, referencing the 2012 film ‘Django Unchained’ to underscore his point. “Any human being owned by another is a slave, (or) is enslaved,” he declared.

“We can only imagine what kind of enslavement the girls of Chibok, of Dapchi (where Boko Haram kidnapped 110 schoolgirls in 2018), have been undergoing since 300 pupils were removed from their school in Nigeria,” he continued.

Describing these crimes as “a blood on universal conscience,” Soyinka called for a global reckoning, arguing that slavery has persisted for over 500 years in various forms.

He emphasized that slavery is ultimately an attack on human dignity, saying, “The core of slavery is the robbery of human beings, races, communities, and nations of their right of volition.”

While acknowledging the global conversation on reparations for slavery, Soyinka dismissed the idea of material compensation.

“It is impossible to quantify the appropriate reparation for such a global atrocity,” he noted. However, he advocated for symbolic actions that reinforce humanity’s commitment to justice.

The United Nations has long recognized the transatlantic slave trade as one of history’s greatest human rights violations.

In 2006, the General Assembly established March 25 as the annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, with its first official commemoration in 2008.

Despite these efforts, Soyinka warned that without a collective global stance against all forms of enslavement, “it’s going to be with us for a very long time.”