Christian Today | Aug. 5, 2019
Christian human rights organisations are continuing to hope that a teenager being held by a faction of the Boko Haram terrorist group is still alive despite reports that she has been killed by her captors.
Reports have surfaced in recent weeks that the 16-year-old may have been killed after a disturbing video released by Boko Haram splinter group ISWAP showed a Christian aid worker pleading for her life and making reference to Sharibu and another Christian captive, Alice Ngaddah.
In the video, Grace Taku, an aid worker with Action Against Hunger who is being held by ISWAP, reportedly said: “I am begging on behalf of all of us. I don’t want such to happen to us and it also happened again with Leah and Alice, because Nigeria could not do anything about them, they were not released, they were also killed.”
Leah was one of 110 schoolgirls abducted from a school in Dapchi in February 2018. While five of the girls died in captivity, the others were released the following month with the exception of Leah, who was kept back after refusing to convert to Islam.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide said its partners in the country were aware of the reports surrounding Leah but believe that she maybe being held by a different group from Taku and therefore continue to hope that she is still alive.