The Guardian | Timileyin Omilana | February 20, 2020
The mother of the abducted Nigerian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu Thursday met with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby in London.
Rebecca Sharibu is in London to mark the second anniversary of her daughter’s abduction by a faction of Boko Haram.
“We were honoured to share the Eucharist with Rebecca Sharibu today,” Welby said in a tweet. “A woman of profound courage and faith, Rebecca is mother of 16-year-old Christian Leah Sharibu, kidnapped by #BokoHaram two years ago.
“We pray for you, and for Leah to be released free from harm.”
Leah was kidnapped along with about 109 girls from the school in Dapchi, Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria. All the girls were freed – five died when their abductors were returning them to Dapchi – but Leah was never released because she refused to denounce Christianity.
Sharibu told a rally in Westminster, London on Wednesday that she was in “great pain” over her daughter’s abduction.
“My daughter, my only daughter, is already two years in captivity, and President Buhari promised me that she would be released but she has not been released. I need Leah back home and I need him to set Leah free, just like the other girls were set free,” Rebecca Sharibu said in Hausa.