Leah Sharibu was one of the 110 schoolgirls kidnapped from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, in February 2018 by Boko Haram insurgents. Her mother, Mrs Rebecca Sharibu, speaks to The Punch ahead of her daughter’s 18th birthday on Friday, May 14, 2021
Your daughter has been in Boko Haram captivity for over three years. Why do you think the government has failed to rescue her?
I think the reason they have left my daughter in captivity is because she is a Christian. All the other girls that were taken were Muslims and they were all released. But my daughter is still in captivity, I believe, because of her faith. If not, why have they not yet released my daughter? What crime has she committed? She only refused to renounce her Christian faith.
President Muhammadu Buhari, has repeatedly promised and assured that your daughter will be rescued from the terrorists. But it’s been over three years and she’s still there. Are you not losing hope?
He (Buhari) has promised repeatedly; he comes out and says he is going to rescue Leah, but he has not fulfilled it. I don’t know or understand why he has not yet fulfilled his promise. Leah is still in captivity. I don’t know the problem or reasons that he is still leaving my daughter in captivity.
We are still waiting for him, as a family, to fulfill this promise that he made. The best thing to do when you make a promise is to fulfill that promise. That is the only acceptable thing. So, we are still waiting for him as a family.
Has the President spoken to you since Leah was taken away?
When my daughter was taken away in February 2018, I did not hear from the government; I did not hear from anybody until seven months after. It was then that a video was released of her in a hijab. Boko Haram had released a video to say they had killed one health worker and they said the next person to be killed would be Leah. So, the Leah Foundation organised a world press conference in Jos. We asked the world for help because the next person Boko Haram said they would kill was my daughter. We said we had not heard from the government or anybody as a family and that, as far as we were concerned, we were calling on the international community to plead with the Nigerian government to take action.
The night of the press conference, we got the attention of the government and the President called and spoke with me. That was the first time they (the Presidency) got in touch with us. After speaking to me, he (President) promised that he would do everything possible to bring Leah back.
Two weeks after, he sent three ministers led by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, to us. He came to Dapchi with two female ministers. When they came, they told me the President had sent them with a very large delegation and the media to say that very soon, Leah would be found. In fact, when they came that day, we thought Leah was coming back because we had just spoken with the President two weeks before. But they just came to register their presence with us as Leah’s parents. They took pictures and it was all over the media that the President sent ministers.
After that time, we never heard anything from anybody in the government until October 2020 when the Minister of Women Affairs (Paulen Tallen) came to Yola (Adamawa State) to pay us a courtesy visit. She told us that she had brought a message from the President, that the President was still working towards fulfilling the promise that he would rescue Leah. Since then, there has been no contact or communication.
Do you think the Christian community has shown enough concern about Leah’s abduction?
Members of the Christian community are trying their best because they have spoken out. The Evangelical Church Winning All, which is the denomination we belong to, has cried out and called on the government. We have called on the Christian community in northern Nigeria. We have called on virtually everyone, organised prayers and pleaded with people to keep praying. We encouraged those that could speak to speak out.
We organised global prayers, which we held in the United States in 2019 and the entire globe was praying for Leah. We also had another prayer in February 2020, when we marked Leah’s second year in captivity; we were in the United Kingdom to take our letter to the High Commission. Prayers were held at Jesus House, a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the UK. We have a lot of Christians supporting us. The purpose of our reaching out (to RCCG) is so that we can have our southern women speak out at this point. They have been speaking out but we want the connection to be seen that as Nigerians, all Christians are one.
When the image of Leah in hijab was released, some believed that Leah had been converted to Islam. How did it make you feel?
As far as I was concerned, it was just a video being circulated. I’ve only seen the video; I’ve not seen my daughter. I don’t know what was happening there.
There are also reports that Leah has been impregnated and has given birth twice already. What are your thoughts about these reports?
All the things they are saying, whether that she is dead or that she is pregnant or has given birth to a second baby, as far as I am concerned, they are all rumours. I have not seen my daughter. I just want to see her. When I see my daughter, then I can confirm anything. But for now, I haven’t heard anything from my daughter and I don’t know where she is. Every day, we hear rumours.
Where do these rumours come from?
I see them on social media and all over the Internet.
How has Leah’s abduction affected the family?
Her father is a policeman; he was posted there and that is where we lived. But they had transferred him someplace else at the time Leah was kidnapped. Because of the incessant attacks in Dapchi, we had to relocate out of Dapchi. Her father is from Adamawa State and we have moved back there, so that we can be in a safer place.
For us as a family, it is very painful; it is not something that is palatable. It is painful when a child is taken for three years and you don’t know anything regarding the child’s whereabouts. We are not happy as a family. I am not happy, her father is not happy and my son is not happy. We are in pain every day.
How are Leah’s siblings coping?
She has just her younger brother, Donald. He is in school.
How has Leah’s abduction impacted your son’s upbringing?
My son has gone back to school, but every day I’m afraid; my mind is not at ease. But he has to continue with his education and people have supported us. The Leah Foundation has taken up his education. With that, he has to go to school, but every day, I am afraid.
Leah is turning 18 on May 14. How does it make you feel, knowing that she may not be able to celebrate with her family?
We are in deep pains. We are not happy. It is not something to be happy about. We came here (RCCG Headquarters) because a programme was planned to mark Leah’s 18th birthday with Mummy (Mrs Foluke Adeboye). We had engaged in advocacy through protests, conferences, calling on the international community, and raising prayers. We were then advised that instead of just going to the government in protest as usual and talking, with everything falling on deaf ears, we could do what we started when we marked three years of Leah’s captivity – quiet spiritual prayers – so that we could have the attention of the entire Nigerian church in prayer. But then, a book titled ‘Leah: Hero of Jesus’ was written by Dr Gloria Puldu and Rev Peter Fretheim in Leah’s honour.
They wanted some people to give their views concerning her act of faith. When they got in touch with our spiritual father in RCCG, he invited us to see how the advocacy could be moved to the spiritual. We took that advice wholeheartedly and came to the camp. When we came, Mummy (Mrs Adeboye) was excited and wanted to pray with us, Leah’s parents. Actually, Daddy (Pastor Enoch) Adeboye wrote the foreword of the book.
They said it would be good for us to come and have the book launched and receive the blessing of Mummy as the host and mother of the day, to send a message that the church in Nigeria is one. The RCCG was planning something big but everything was put on hold because of what just happened with the passing of Daddy and Mummy’s first son. The event has now been postponed in respect of the departed and our father and mother in the Lord.
Do you have hope that you will see Leah again?
Yes, by the grace of God. I have not lost hope because God is in control and people are praying. I have the hope that one day, I will see my daughter again.
Leah has been hailed for holding onto her Christian faith despite persecution by Boko Haram. How proud are you of her for this?
For us as a family, we are very thankful for what she did. Nobody was there with her, yet she was bold enough on her own. We are really grateful that she was able to stand up for her faith. So, we are very proud of her.
If Leah is released, what is the first thing you will do or say to her?
If they release Leah, I will be very joyful. I will thank God, and I will tell her thank you when I see her.
