CP | Samuel Smith | February 19 2020
Wednesday marks two years since Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu was abducted along with 109 of her classmates from her school in northeast Nigeria by a faction of the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.
Although most of her classmates were later released by the Islamic State West Africa Province — a breakaway group of Boko Haram — Sharibu, then 14 years old, was not. She was reportedly held back from her classmates in 2018 because she refused to recount her faith in Christ.
Despite recent reports that Sharibu married a Boko Haram commander’s son and gave birth to a child, Sharibu’s family and their global supporters have not given up hope that the 16 year old will be freed one day.
In a statement shared with The Christian Post and other media outlets Tuesday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari restated his vow to secure Sharibu’s release.
“Now aged 16, Leah remains in the hands of the terrorists — they say because she refuses to renounce her Christian faith,” Buhari said. “We say, as the government for and of all Nigerians, that no person has the right to force another to change their faith against their will and that all life is sacred.”
Buhari assured that the federal government is continuing efforts to secure Sharibu’s release as well as all other captives of the Borno-based terror factions that have terrorized the Lake Chad region for the past decade.