As the world commemorates international women’s day with the recognition of the role they play at different levels of leadership many names have popped up as examples worth celebrating.
In Nigeria the likes of Dr. Ngozi okonjo-Iweala who recently emerged the first African woman to rise to the summit of the global body, Amina Mohammed UN Envoy and Chimamanda Adichie literary icon are notable examples.
However the occasion has given cause for remembrance of Leah Sharibu who has remained captive of Boko Haram for refusing to renounce her faith. Sharibu’s parents have renewed pressure on President Buhari to secure their daughter’s release from Islamic extremists after 300 recently kidnapped schoolgirls were released recently.
Rebecca and Nathan Sharibu’s daughter Leah has been held captive for three years after being abducted by Boko Haram terrorists from her school in northeast Nigeria in 2018 and they released an open letter published by Nigerian media Monday morning in a desperate plea to the President.
In the letter which was released by Gloria Puldu, executive director of the Leah Foundation the Sharibus wrote , “Mr. President, you have promised me on the phone that my daughter will soon be [released] because negotiations are going on and not long Leah will be returned home but it has been over two years since you made that promise and Leah is now three years in captivity,”
The letter commended the president for the prompt rescue of the 344 Katsina state schoolboys abducted in December 2020 and the release of 279 kidnapped schoolgirls in Zamfara state.
Meanwhile a Nigerian pastor kidnapped by Boko Haram in December 2020 was also recently released after negotiations, just hours before he was to be executed.
The letter questioned why other captives were rescued in less than a week, while Leah has remained in captivity for over three years.
In support of Leah, Christians in Nigeria and rights advocates worldwide have not stopped advocating for her release. Her mother came to Washington, D.C. in June 2019 to call on President Trump to assist in the release of her daughter in captivity.
The Buhari administration has been accused of using the prompt rescue of the Katsina state School boys and other solved kidnappings as an opportunity to flay the previous administration on its failure to secure the release of all the Chibok school girl’s, stakeholders and analyst argue that it is insensitive to politicize the issue and that Leah should not be an exemption.
Her parents, the Sharibus argued the whole world is waiting on Buhari to fulfill his promise to rescue Leah.
Many international human rights advocates criticize the Nigerian government for neglecting to thwart violence against civilian communities committed by Islamic extremists in the northeast and radical herdsmen in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.
According to reports Extremists demanded $275 million for Sharibu’s release in October 2018 with a Report in January 2020 claiming that Sharibu had given birth to the son of a Boko Haram commander.
The state of insecurity in Nigeria has seen a wave of mass kidnappings for ransom in the past months, which has become a lucrative industry for militants.
Open Door’s World Watch List ranks Nigeria as the ninth-worst country for Christian persecution, stating that Islamic oppression toward believers is rampant and often runs unchecked.
Three years on it is hoped that President Buhari will intensify efforts to see Leah’s safe return as Nigerians and stakeholders continue to pray that she is alive and that the government will deliver on its promises to Leah’s parents.
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