Rebecaa Sharibu hold up the picture of her daughter, Leah, who has been in Boko Haram captivity. Photo CNN
To mark the fifth year of Leah Sharibu’s abduction by Boko Haram, a special prayer service is currently being held in Abuja.
The whereabouts and condition of Leah Sharibu, one of the Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram insurgents in 2018 in Yobe State, will be discussed at the Sunday prayer session organised by the Leah Foundation and Para-Mallam Peace Foundation Advocate for Social Justice.
The prayer is anticipated to be attended by Archbishop Daniel Okoh, Ignatius Kaigama, and John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus.
Held in captivity
One of the freed girls had reported that Leah had been not released by Boko Haram because she refused to convert to Islam.
“They said she should turn to Muslim before she enter motor and then she said she would never do that,” Rebecca Sharibu told CNN in 2018.
Nathan and Rebecca Sharibu have continued to petition the federal government for their daughter’s release.
Many girls held captive
Boko Haram has become notorious for kidnapping young men and women during their nine-year insurgency.
The terror group has kidnapped more than 1,000 children, famously kidnapping nearly 300 Chibok schoolgirls four
Despite the fact that the many escaped or were later released, more than 100 girls remain in captivity.
Thousands of parents whose children have been taken by Boko Haram never see their children again.
According to Amnesty International. hundreds of children have been killed, raped, forced into “marriages,” or coerced into joining Boko Haram in Nigeria.
Reporting by Samuel Adeyinka; Editing by Saadatu Albashir