Boko Haram’s KILLING OF AID WORKER depresses me further —Leah Sharibu’s mother
Mrs. Rebecca Sharibu, mother of Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi schoolgirl held by Boko Haram, has commiserated with the family of Hauwa Liman, an aid worker with the Red Cross recently executed by Boko Haram insurgents. In a conversation with our correspondent on the phone, the distraught mother asked God to comfort Hauwa’s family while praying for the repose of her soul. According to her, the killing of Hauwa by the insurgents only a few days after the visit of the Federal Government delegation had brought her more trauma and disappointment. But she said she was still hopeful that her daughter would be set free. She said: “I feel so sad over the killing of Hauwa. Her death has brought more trauma and confusion for us, because government people visited us just a few days ago, assuring us of the freedom of our children.
Then suddenly, the news of the killing of Hauwa came in. “My prayers is for the Almighty God to comfort her family and grant her soul peace. I am sure that Hauwa is in the bosom of our Lord. For dying in the service to humanity, God will surely grant her peace. “The last wish of a parent is to witness the death of her child.
This one is worse because you can’t even see the body of your child. Only God can comfort the family.” Speaking on her trauma, Mrs. Sharibu said: “I must tell you that it has not been easy for me and my family. When I heard that they killed Hauwa, I broke down and cried. But I still stood up and prayed to God to spare the life of my daughter, Leah. I was actually taken aback by the development, but there is nothing God cannot do.” Leah Sharibu was one of the 110 pupils of a governmentowned secondary school in Dapchi, Yobe State, abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on February 19, 2018.
It was the repeat of a similar abduction of close to 300 pupils of another secondary school in Chibok, Borno State by the same sect on April 14, 2014. About 104 of the abducted Dapchi girls were later released by the insurgents after some back-channel negotiations between the sect and the Federal Government. While five of the abducted girls were said to have died in the cause of the abduction, Leah became the only one held back by the sect purportedly because she rebuffed the order to renounce her faith as a Christian and embrace Islam.
Efforts made since then to secure her release have yielded no result. Fears over her safety were heightened further with the recent decision of the sect to execute Hauwa, one of the Red Cross aid workers in the sect’s custody. The sect, however, announced that rather than execute Leah, she would be turned into a slave. On Boko Haram’s threat to keep her daughter as a slave for life, Mrs. Sharibu said: “I am calling on the Federal Government not to relent in their efforts and promise to secure the release of my daughter and any other person in the hands of Boko Haram. “At least they have told us that Leah is still alive, so we are still hopeful. We can’t lose hope.
I am sure God will answer our prayers by touching their hearts to release my daughter.” Asked if the Federal Government had contacted the family after Hauwa’s execution, she said: “No one has contacted us. We are still relying on the promises they gave us during their last visit to me.” A delegation of theFederal Government, led by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, recently visited Maiduguri where they met with the family members of the three aid workers kidnapped by Boko Haram in Rann. The delegation, which was received by the Deputy Governor of Borno State, Usman Durkwa, also visited Leah Sharibu’s mother and assured her of the administration’s efforts to ensure her daughter’s safety. Commenting on the sincerity of the Federal Government on the issue, she said: “I have no reason to doubt the efforts of the government in securing the freedom of my daughter. I’m only calling on them to double their efforts to get my daughter released”.
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