The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Students Kidnapped in Nigeria

Mar 1, 2021

Armed gunmen abducted 317 young women from a school in the Zamfara state of Nigeria. It was not initially clear if they were taken by a group of bandits or political insurgents. Both type of gangs have been doing this type of mass kidnapping of students in Nigeria.

Sometimes the students are held for ransom, and are eventually returned. But many times these young people suffer a far worse fate. Some have been killed by their captors. Many of the young women have been raped or sold into sexual enslavement.

In 2014, 276 young women were kidnapped from their school by the Boko Haram group. Over 100 of these young women are still missing today.

These types of violent kidnappings have been happening in other parts of Africa as well, not just in Nigeria. Whether done for ransom, or for some political purpose, they are a reflection of the poverty and increasing desperation which exists in many parts of the African continent today.

The European powers, and more recently the United States, have dominated the economies of the African countries for centuries. The capitalists of the imperialist powers have exploited the labor and controlled the resources of Africa. Nigeria, for example, has a wealth of natural resources, including oil, and a more developed economy than most other African countries. Yet, the per capita income for the Nigerian people is just over $2,000 a year.

The imperialist powers used their own violence—their own military forces and colonial governments—to dominate Africa. They fostered ethnic and religious rivalries to divide people. They maintain their domination of Africa today with their control over the world market.

The poverty, desperation and violence facing the African people today results from the imperialist domination of Africa.