Buhari’s failure to rescue Leah Sharibu disappointing – Parents

More than six years after their daughter’s abduction alongside 109 other schoolgirls at the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, Leah Sharibu’s parents, Nathan and Rebecca Sharibu, have expressed disappointment that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), did not secure the schoolgirl’s release barely two weeks to the end of his regime despite several promises.

They also expressed disappointment over the failure of the government to stop the incessant attacks and killings still going on in different parts of the country.

The President of the Leah Foundation, Dr Gloria Pulda, who spoke on behalf of the distraught parents in an interview with The PUNCH in Jos, Plateau State, on Sunday on the sidelines of Mothers’ Day celebration, said, “Today is May 14 and it is the sixth year Leah Sharibu is spending in captivity. She was abducted when she was just 14 years old and today, she is 20 years old. And it’s so sad that Leah remains in captivity for almost six years since 2018 when she was abducted. The mother is sad. The father is sad. The Nigerian women and indeed everyone is sad.”

Pulda lamented that so many Nigerians were still being abducted under Buhari’s regime.

Pulda, who described Leah Sharibu as a symbol of religious freedom and free education for the girl child, broke down in tears saying, “Today, being Sunday, is Mothers’ Day that is being celebrated in Nigeria and all over the world. How do we celebrate as parents when our girls are still being messed up by terrorists?

“We want Mr President to put himself in the shoes of parents whose children are still in captivity and that is why we are calling on the Federal Government, particularly President Muhammadu Buhari, who has just 14 days to leave the office to fulfil his promise and ensure that Leah Sharibu and others who are still being held in captivity are set free before he leaves office.

“We believe he still has the chance to leave a legacy that will bring joy to Nigerian women. We also want to plead with the terrorists to release our girls. If you have issues with the Nigerian government, you don’t have issues with our girls. Please release them.”

Asked whether she believed that Leah was still alive after spending almost six years in Boko Haram captivity, the President of LEAH Foundation said, “We are absolutely sure that she is still alive because we have abducted girls that have been coming out from captivity. Some of the freed girls have told us that they were with Leah Sharibu in captivity before they were able to escape. But she has not been able to escape. As a matter of fact, one of the abducted girls who was released around October last year told us that before her escape, she was with Leah even when she gave birth to her second child. So, we believe she is still alive, and we trust that God will release her one day.”