FRIDAY OLOKOR writes that five years after her abduction by suspected terrorists, Leah Sharibu has continued to dominate international discourse for wrong reasons, especially on crashed marriage and childbirth.
Although Leah is a biblical name of Hebrew origin that means delicate or weary, it may not be completely true for the one who has been held hostage for five years by Islamic terrorists because she stuck to Jesus Christ. In the Biblical Old Testament, Leah is the daughter of Laban and the sister of Rachel. Married to Jacob, he favoured her sister instead. Leah loved Jacob though, and since she was unable to conceive, she prayed about her situation.
But in this context, marriage was forced on Leah Sharibu against her conscience and circumstances she did not like.
Leah Sharibu was one of the 110 female students of the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, who were abducted on February 19, 2018, by Boko Haram terrorists. While others were released by the terrorists following negotiations, Leah, then 14 years old, is still being held captive because she refused to renounce her Christian faith.
Her abduction sent shivers down the spines of the intelligentsia and the Christian community, fueling speculations of the desperate plans to Islamise Nigeria.
Many Nigerians and the global community have demanded her freedom. In April 2022, a human rights organisation under the aegis of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable called on the United States and Britain to intervene to stop the killings by terrorists and bandits in Nigeria. While also demanding a town hall or roundtable meeting with victims across the country, the organisation also wondered why Nigeria was delisted from countries with particular concern by the United States regardless of the continued religious killings, especially in the Northern part of the country. A representative of the IRFR, Olasunmbo Ojumo, in an interview with journalists, after submitting the petitions with the United States Embassy and British High Commission said they were seeking an audience with both countries to discuss the issues that bedevil Nigeria.
The leader of the IRFR, Philip Akpavie said the letters “seek attention for a roundtable meeting with the United States Embassy and the British High Commission having a relationship with Nigeria.” After the abduction on the night of February 19, the Federal Government opened a channel of negotiation with Boko Haram for the return of the victims. About 33 days later, on March 21, the government secured the release of 107 of the girls (all Muslims). Leah was said to have been retained by Boko Haram terrorists when her colleagues were released because she refused to renounce her Christian faith for Islam. One of the freed girls, Khadija Grema, confirmed that the terrorists decided to continue to hold Leah because she refused to renounce her Christian faith. Two days after her 15th birthday, the then Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, revealed that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was doing everything necessary to free Leah Sharibu and others in Boko Haram custody.
But despite promises to secure the freedom of Leah Sharibu and other students in the captivity of Boko Haram terrorists and bandits, Buhari left parents of the students and other Nigerians disappointed, confirming the position of Mehmet Murat ildan, the Turkish playwright, novelist, and thinker, who summarised politicians and their mastery of deceit.
Although the Boko Haram insurgency started in the Northeast in 2009, the menace got velocity and reigned supreme during the Buhari years. While kidnapping, killing, and rape were reckless in the North-East, ethnic clashes were rife in the North-Central. Despite promises to free Leah Sharibu, Chibok, and Dapchi girls, Buhari slept with his two eyes closed, amidst the growing bloodshed in the South-West and South-East.
The President of the LEAH Foundation and Spokesperson for her parents, Dr Gloria Puldu, told The PUNCH that Leah had marked six birthdays in captivity as she even turned 20 on May 14. Puldu said, “What a tragedy to a nation that does not care about its citizens! What is so shameful is that despite all the cries, pleas, protests, and demonstrations even by school children, the calls and every form of pressure exercised on this government to secure her release, seem to fall on the deaf ears of General Buhari.
The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State and former Vice President of CAN in the 19 northern states and Abuja, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, in an interview with The PUNCH, had captured the failed promises when he said, “Leah Sharibu just celebrated her birthday but in the hands of her captors. Buhari was only able to make a failed phone call promise to her parents but did not secure Leah’s freedom.”
Since her abduction, Leah Sharibu is always in the news for bad reasons and not for her freedom. The PUNCH reported that there were insinuations that Leah Sharibu held by members of Islamic State West Africa Province has “remarried” another terrorist commander, after purportedly securing a divorce from the first ‘husband’ forced on her. Leah, after the purported divorce from one Abdulrahman, it was alleged, was remarried to another ISWAP commander in the Lake Chad area named Ali Abdallah. The PUNCH on Thursday exclusively obtained her photograph carrying a baby.
But Puldu described such thoughts as both confusing and disheartening. She wondered why they should believe unsubstantiated rumors and scant information that “local security sources made this revelation in a report.”
While calling on President Bola Tinubu to act fast, Puldu recalled that till he left office on May 29, 2023, Buhari did not act on the promise he made to free Leah Sharibu two years after her abduction, adding that the international community had abandoned Leah and others still being held captive.
She said, “The global community seems to have forgotten Leah’s plight (and other girls like her) and allowed Nigeria to devolve into the chaos that it is currently in. No one is demanding accountability or transparency from Nigeria, but continue to give billions of dollars in aid and relief. Leah remains a captive to a militant religious group within Nigeria without any apparent knowledge of her whereabouts.
“Recent reports on Leah Sharibu, the young girl taken captive by ISWAP terrorists over five years ago, are both confusing and disheartening. It’s confusing because there have been unsubstantiated rumours and scant information regarding the whereabouts of Leah. There were a few reports by those who were released or had escaped claiming that she might have been married off and given birth to two children. No pictures, audio or video has ever surfaced and, If anything, these were assumptions based on her age and condition of captivity.
“Why should we believe, “Local security sources made this revelation in a report”? If they have intelligence on Leah’s whereabouts and any information, then where are the Nigerian armed forces? Why isn’t the government involved in securing her release?
“It’s disheartening because only so often do we hear anything about Leah Sharibu. On the second anniversary of Leah’s capture, President Buhari said, “…we redouble our efforts for Leah’s return, we can never allow the terrorists to divide us…”. Nathan and Rebecca Sharibu are asking what happened to that promise. Buhari left office without fulfilling that promise of rescuing our daughter, Leah. Our family remains grief-stricken by our daughter’s capture and ongoing imprisonment, even as the Nigerian government has been unsuccessful in securing her release.
“In March 2020, Leah’s father, Nathan Sharibu pleaded, ‘I have not heard anything from federal, state, and local governments since my daughter was abducted. I am even confused now. I need your assistance to put pressure on the Federal Government to do something about the release of my daughter.’ Puldu said it had been so sad that abductions of students were still ongoing even in the new administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Another activist and peace advocate, Gideon Para-Mallam, who has been in touch with her parents, described it as “an old piece of news which happened since 2019.” According to him, Leah Sharibu was never divorced but walked away from a forced marriage, adding that she had been married thrice.
Para-Mallam, President and CEO of The Para-Mallam Peace Foundation, who has been one of the persistent voices advocating for the freedom of Leah Sharibu, told The PUNCH that he spoke with her parents on Wednesday. He told our correspondent that the situation about Leah’s marriage “is not what was dished out to the press as special news item. It simply is not.” He said, “What you are describing as the latest report is actually an old piece of news that happened since 2019. Leah was never divorced. Leah walked away from a forced marriage. Can anyone truly describe Leah as being in a true marriage? Leah remains an innocent underaged girl that this nation has woefully failed – not only her but several other girls who were and still are being subjected to inhuman treatment in captivity.
“Leah’s goal is her education which was forcefully truncated. Leah maintained her dignity and refused to renounce her Christian faith but was kept back by forces bent on humiliating her Christian commitment and testimony. Now there’s talk of her converting to Islam. In truth, would someone consider any ‘conversion’ in captivity as a genuine conversion?
“The Nigerian press should remember the pain of several parents including Leah’s parents. I spoke to them yesterday (Wednesday), it’s a lack of sensitivity to publish such stories and make such look like news. It’s bad news. Let me also add that what was described occurred sometime in 2019. There are many Christian girls and to a lesser extent Muslim girls in such captivity.
“Many Christian girls have been forced to convert to Islam. They are wounded internally but they continue to hope in God. They remain Christians at heart. It’s an unjust world where the ‘strong’ brutalize the weak. I will urge prayers and the God of justice will come through for these innocent girls. God is doing it in His own ways. God continues to have the final say. “
He called on President Bola Tinubu to “make a difference in the case of Leah and others who remain in captivity.”
“I pray the President and the Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum will come to the rescue and help these girls. They are languishing in pain and neglect. They suffered in captivity and now that they are out tangible help needs to be extended to them. They are traumatized and go through harrowing experiences due to trauma. Most of them remain unemployed to date, unable to help themselves but their freedom is priceless. I pray the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu will one day remember these girls – who have made it out. Our Peace Foundation is in touch with them and their parents. Thanks to PUNCH for reaching out to ascertain concrete facts, at least the little, being let out.”
The President of CAN, Archbishop Daniel Okoh said, “Leah Sharibu’s case is just one out of the numerous cases of faith-based persecutions going on in Nigeria almost on a daily basis. Her refusal to abandon her beliefs, even in the face of grave danger, has inspired and will continue to inspire many people around the world to stand up for what they believe in and fight for justice and freedom of belief for all the people around the world.’’
