Calls for the release of Nigerian Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu – among 110 girls abducted from their school in Dapchi in February, 2018 – have been renewed ahead of her 16th birthday on Tuesday.
Leah Sharibu.
Sharibu was 14-years-old when she was taken from the school on 19th February by militants belonging to Boko Haram offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province. While her surviving classmates were released a month later following government negotiations, Sharibu refused to convert from Christianity to Islam as a pre-condition of her release and so remained a captive. In September, 2018, her captors declared she and abducted humanitarian worker Alice Ngaddah were to be their slaves for life.
Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of UK-based religious freedom advocacy CSW, said the organisation again called on the Nigerian Government “to act on its promises and move decisively to secure the release of Leah Sharibu, Alice Ngaddah, and the 112 girls who were kidnapped from their school in Chibok in April, 2014”.
The latter is a reference to the more than 100 girls, part of some 276 who were originally kidnapped by Boko Haram militants from their school in Chibok, who are still being held captive by militants.
A vigil will be held outside the Nigerian High Commission in London on Tuesday to mark Sharibu’s 16th birthday. It will also be marked by a series of events elsewhere, including in Nigeria at the National Christian Centre and Unity Fountain Park – Sharibu’s denomination – in Abuja and at a service at the Evangelical Church Winning All headquarters in Jos.
UK MP David Linden, who will be attending the London vigil, has asked the UK Prime Minister Theresa May to pressure the Nigerian Government to prioritise the release of Sharibu and other hostages.
In a tweet last week, he wrote that he shared a birthday date with Sharibu.
“The difference is, I will get to spend my birthday as a free person whilst Leah remains in captivity. We must continue to press the Nigerian Government for action on this.”
