Parents of Leah Sharibu have said that the global community has forgotten about her plight.
They expressed anxiety at reports about the child who was kidnapped in Dapchi alongside other school mates.
Many of them have been released but she is still being held because she allegedly refused to abandon her Christian faith.
“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 continues 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”, they said in a statement by their spokesperson and President of Leah Foundation, Dr Gloria Puldu.
They said: , “Recent reports on Leah Sharibu, the young girl taken captive by ISWAP terrorists over five years ago, is 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 on Leah Sharibu. On the two-year anniversary of Leah’s capture, President Buhari said that, “…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.’
She said, “About a week ago we woke up to the news of students abducted from Zamfara. This is very shameful and disheartening to Nigerian parents. Despite the terrible economic hardship, parents still have to grapple with the safety of their children in school. We are calling again with a very strong and loud voice on the current government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to please wake up to its very primary responsibility of safety and protection of the lives and properties of Nigerian citizens.
“We demand the rescue of Leah Sharibu and all others who had in captivity in the hands of terrorists.”
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