Nigeria’s Leah Sharibu marks her 17th birthday and 3rd year in the captivity of her Islamic sect abductors.
14th May being her precise date of birth, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and the International Committee on Nigeria called for an online prayer vigil starting at 7:30 pm.
Leah Sharibu was abducted alongside 109 other schoolgirls on February 19, 2018 by the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP), a faction of Boko Haram. They were rounded up from their school in Dapchi, Yobe State.
Following negotiations by Nigeria’s Federal Government, 109 of the school girls were released after being forced to renounce their Christian faith.
Leah refused to deny Christ, preferring to stay in captivity instead. Reports earlier in the year say she has been married off to an ISWAP commander and now has a baby boy for him.
Read: Leah Sharibu Delivers a Baby Boy for Top Boko Haram Comander
Her family as well many civil rights groups have continued to press for her release. However, Nigeria’s government implores everyone to avoid sensationalising the situation. They claim that drawing too much attention to it may hamper negotiations.
On her part, her mother, Rebecca Sharibu, in February this year joined a protest outside the Nigerian High Commission in London in commemoration of her second year in captivity.
Rebecca delivered a petition with 12,132 signatures to the High Commission. The petition berated Nigerian government’s lacklustre attitude to Leah’s plight and called on the government to secure her release.
BBC.com Pidgin Twitter reports Leah’s father, Nathan Sharibu as saying that:
“If to say she dey wit me I for celebrate her birthday becos she be my first daughter. If e be say dis her destiny, make she take am with faith.
“Since her abduction, apart from di time di Minister for Culture visit me, we never hear anything,
“I day plead wit di goment, since dam don promise di family, promise the nation and promise the whole world dat di administration go do dia best to see my daughter return home safely. I day pled wit dam to fulfil dis promise.”
Reno Omokri, former presidential aid to Goodluck Jonathan:
“Today is Leah Sharibu’s 17th birthday. Join me to wish her happy birthday by retweeting this and commenting.
“Leah, you are not forgotten. As soon as #COVID19 pandemic is over, God sparing my life, I‘ll continue my global campaign for your release!
On her part, CSW Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas lamented that “for the 3rd time, Leah ill be marking her birthday as a captive. This brave girl is an example to all of us as she continues to stay true to her Christian faith and refuses to renounce her faith.
“We continue to call on the government to do everything in its power to secure her swift release, and that of other captives held by both Boko Haram factions, including the remaining Chibok girls.
“We also urge the international community to raise her case with Nigeria at every opportunity and to offer assistance to counter the continuing threat posed by armed non-state actors in the country.”