•Renews calls for freedom
By Efe Onodjae
Today, Leah Sharibu turns 23, a painful reminder of the years stolen from a young girl whose only “offence” was refusing to renounce her Christian faith.
Since her abduction by insurgents from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, in 2018, Leah’s story has become a symbol of courage, resilience, and the continuing tragedy of insecurity and religious persecution in Nigeria. While many of her classmates regained freedom, Leah remains in captivity, her absence continuing to weigh heavily on the conscience of the nation.
To ensure that her story is not forgotten, a group of concerned women under the auspices of Friends of Leah Sharibu, is marking her 23rd birthday with renewed advocacy and public engagement.
Speaking to Vanguard during an advocacy and enlightenment visit, the women, led by Mrs. Grace Osifekun, said the campaign is aimed at reminding government, civil society, and international community that Leah is still in captivity and must not be abandoned to silence or fading public attention.
She said every passing birthday is both a heartbreaking milestone and a renewed opportunity to demand urgent action for her release. Excerpts:
What is this group all about?
We are are friends of Leah Sharibu. And we believe that Leah Sharibu is someone that should not be forgotten in the camp of terrorists. Since she was abducted in 2018, we have kept her in the public consciousness because we’ve done something on her behalf every year ever since. We have been in contact with government, the military, for instance, General Musa Christopher , who was the Chief of Defence Staff and is now Defence Minister, is someone we have reached out to.
So our aim is her release. That is our goal. And for her to be released, she has to be in the public consciousness.
That is our goal. Now, what we do generally is to pray and intercede for her. We have a platform on WhatsApp and we have many members in Nigeria, outside of Nigeria. Not all of us are here now. Some of us are abroad right now. And some of us, because of one thing or the other, they are not able to make this meeting.
I have a few photographs we took in the past. We were at Ransom Kuti Park, where we had an event for her. We’ve been there many times celebrating Leah Sharibu.
And Uncle Sam, the chairman and publisher of Vanguard, has been our chief supporter in the press. Vanguard has covered our activities several times.
Prayer group
We have this prayer group. For three days monthly, we say prayers for her. On the 7th, 14th, and 21st.
The next one for this month is tomorrow, which falls exactly on her birthday. And I thank God we have dedicated women who are in this group.
In this prayer team, we have 12 midnight prayers. Then the next one is 6am. Then noon and 6pm. You have these women staying awake to make sure they keep watch, just for the love of Leah Sharibu.
Are you in touch with the authorities?
Yes, we are in touch. I made contact with him online. And he replied me. He told me he’s working on it. He said Leah Sharibu is not forgotten. That’s what he told me. And I keep reminding him that Leah Sharibu is still in captivity.
Are you in touch with the parents?
I haven’t been able to get in touch with the parents.
As much as I have tried. In fact, last year, I visited internally displaced people. in Makurdi, in Benue State. And my aim was to go from Makurdi to Bauchi. Where Leah Sharibu is from. My intention was to meet Leah Sharibu’s parents.
But it just showed my ignorance of the geography of Nigeria. It was when I got to Makurdi and I told them I want to go to Bauchi. And you know, to even go to Makurdi from Lagos, you go to Abuja by flight.
Then you go on the road for three to four hours before you get to Makurdi. When I got to Makurdi , I was able to get in touch with the DPO of Makurdi. And that’s when she told me that Yobe State is 750 kilometres away from Makurdi. And there is no way I would be able, they don’t have airport. That there is no way I could go there. And if I were to travel by road, that it would take me days. And the roads are not safe.
So I was really disappointed. Because my main aim, apart from visiting the internally displaced people in the camps, was actually because of Leah.
So I wasn’t able to visit the place. I didn’t know the distance was so far away.
You mentioned that General Musa said that Leah is not forgotten…
Yes. But obviously it appears that she’s been forgotten. We’ve had incidents, kidnapping incidents since her. People have been abducted in dozens and all that. What gives you the confidence that she’s not forgotten?
It appears she’s been forgotten, yes. She’s been forgotten. There are people who remember her.
And it is people like us who keep that memory alive in people. For example, last year on her birthday, I did something. I went under the bridge, Anthony Bridge. And I had my t-shirt on. And I had Leah Sharibu’s picture on. I was asking everybody passing by and saying, Do you remember Leah Sharibu? Do you know this girl? And some of them will look and say, hmm, hmm, it’s Leah Sharibu.
But there are people, who said is Leah Sharibu still alive? You know, that sort of reaction. And a lot more people remembered her.
I asked what do you remember about her? And quite a good number of them said, yes, that’s the girl that did not deny Jesus Christ. We’ve had occasions like that just to keep her memory alive. Looking at how she found herself in captivity, can you tell us the significance of what she did?
It’s because she’s a Christian, that’s why she’s still in captivity. And not only that, because she refused to deny Jesus Christ. Because we were told that, it was 110 of them that were abducted from their school in Dapchi.
And they kept them for a month and released them. And most of them were Christians. And her mates said that when they released them, they were telling Leah that deny Jesus and let’s go.
But Leah refused that she would not deny Jesus. So the significance of that is what Jesus told us. That in this world, we will suffer persecution.
For me, and for us in this group, Leah is a symbol of persecution of Christians. A lot more, as you said, have been abducted, kidnapped. But Leah stands out.
Our case is so unique. It is because she stood her ground and said she was not going to deny her faith. Even though she was surrounded by men holding AK-47s.
And a 14-year-old insisted that she was not going to deny Jesus Christ. Somebody was telling me, we were just having a discussion. And this person said, look, let your group keep interceding for Leah, and keep hoping for her release. But whether she’s released or not, you must not give up. We should have this belief.
We must not be discouraged, even though we believe she will be released. There is a crown waiting for her in heaven. She’s a general of Jesus Christ.
We should focus not just only what we see here on earth. We should have our sight in heaven. What is going to happen on eternity.
If I may digress. We have really been disappointed with the church, the Pentecostal Federation, and Christian Association of Nigeria. And over these years, they have not done anything about Leah. I haven’t seen them demanding Leah’s release from the government. They have done nothing.
I had one opportunity last year. It was about this time last year. Former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, was in our church.
Our church is the Fountain of Life Church. That’s the church we all go to, by the way. Our pastor, Taiwo Odukoya, of blessed memory was very passionate about missions. He was passionate about what is happening to people in the North, the Christians in the North. The former Vice President was present. In fact, he gave a lecture to the church on this occasion where he was invited.
I had the opportunity to speak to him when he asked that do people have questions. I said the church has been quiet. They have been silent.
They have said nothing about persecution of Christians generally. And not only about Leah Sharibu, but also other Christians that have actually been murdered.
There was also this woman evangelist in Abuja, who was murdered. While I was speaking, there was somebody in the church, in the audience who was saying that even former Vice President Osinbajo attended the funeral of that woman.
We have had Catholic priests who were abducted and murdered.
I really can’t understand it. Why are fathers of the church, all the general overseers, all the bishops, all the founders, all of them silent. And the church is so strong.
The church is so big. And the church has money. They are doing nothing.
They are not talking. They are not saying anything. They are just keeping quiet.
I can’t understand that. That is basically what I believe.
When you look at this cycle of abductions, women and children are usually the major targets…
The government appears not to be doing anything. So what can you say about that? That women and children remain the target in this vicious cycle?
The place of women in society is a unique position.
It is the women who keep the family together. It is the women who build families. And when you break the back of women and you turn them into slaves, kind of, you are really attacking the fabric of society.
That is what I believe is happening.
Children have been orphaned.
They really cannot be nurtured and loved as they would normally have been within the context of a family. And such children, if care is not taken, they are the ones who will become tomorrow’s Boko Haram and Almajiris. The camps that I visited in Makurdi, there were mostly children and women there. You see very few men there. So I believe the attack is really to break the backbone of family, the foundation of society.
Now, regarding tomorrow’s event, is there a central team?
We will just wish her happy birthday. That is what we are doing.
Don’t you think it also presents an opportunity to prick the conscience of the authorities regarding her captivity? Yes, that’s why we contacted Uncle Sam, so that he can help us put it out there that Leah Sharibu is still in captivity.
If you were asked to make an appeal now to the government in power on Leah Sharibu, what would it look like?
Mr. President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I greet you, sir. And I thank you that today you are the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And as such, you are the father of the nation.
I’m so glad you have children. You know what it is to be a father. And I know you love your children. I appeal to you and First Lady, Mama Remi Tinubu, who is a mother.
I would like you both to look at the plight of Leah Sharibu. Think of Leah Sharibu as your daughter. Imagine what Leah Sharibu has been through for eight good years.
Leah Sharibu was kidnapped on the 19th of February, 2018. At the time, Leah Sharibu was 14, and she had been in captivity ever since. Denied of her freedom, denied of family.
Her parents and her brother have been denied the love of their daughter. I would like you, on this day, as Leah Sharibu turns 23, to remember Leah Sharibu. Not only to remember her, but to intentionally do something today to get this child out of captivity, so that she can begin to live her life afresh. It will enable her live the purpose for which God brought her into this world.
Finally, I would like to appeal to you that getting Leah Sharibu out of captivity is one thing that when you do it, your name as President of Nigeria, will stand out.
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