Nigeria: Leah Sharibu turns 21 in Boko Haram captivity
The Christian hostage was abducted six years ago. She turned 21 on May 14th.
On Leah Sharibu’s birthday, a pastor close to her family called on the Nigerian government and the international community to end their “unfathomable and strange silence” and help secure the young woman’s release.
Nigerian Christian minister Dr. Gideon Para-Mallam, president of the Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation, wrote in a statement to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), “It is extremely disappointing and heart-breaking that six years on, we are still talking about Leah in captivity. Leah ought to have been released by now, but here we are.”
Rev. Para-Mallam also asked: “In a sense, one must really ask, is the whole nation of Nigeria not in captivity? Leah was kidnapped along with 110 other schoolgirls from the Dapchi Girls Secondary School in Yobe State on February 19, 2018, by Boko Haram’s ISWAP [Islamic State’s West Africa Province] faction. About one month later, all the girls were released through negotiations with the Islamic terrorist group by Nigeria’s federal government. All were released, except for Leah Sharibu. Why?”
He added: “All the kidnapped girls were converted to Islam, but the 14-year-old Leah Sharibu remained faithful to her Christian belief. Her freedom of religion and belief was violated, and today, she is still in captivity.”
Reverend Para-Mallam said that Ms. Sharibu herself “appealed to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Christian Association of Nigeria,” in a video released six months into her captivity. He asked for prayers, so that one day, Leah will come out of Boko Haram’s captivity,” along with other Christian women and girls, and Muslims, too.
The pastor stressed: “Nigerians need to unite across faiths to raise their voices in advocacy. We are in this together. Persecution of one is persecution of all. The Church in Nigeria encourages the global Church to remember Leah and get their governments to reach out to the Nigerian government through diplomatic circles, so that Leah is free, along with the Christian girls who were forced to convert to Islam and married off as sex slaves to members of Boko Haram. The last bit of news about Leah was back in 2023. Let me ask that we keep hope alive.”
—Amy Balog
