US group said her remaining in captivity is “symbol of a failed State that can’t protect its children”

A United States based group, US-Nigeria Law Group on Monday bemoaned the plight of the abandoned Dapchi “heroine Christian” schoolgirl Leah Sharibu, saying that she has given birth to a second girl in captivity.

Ahead of the March 21 3rd anniversary of the “abandonment” of Leah Sharibu by the Nigerina government, the US group issued a commemorative statement, saying that “until she’s released, Leah remains a poster child and symbol of a failed State that can’t protect its children.

“It is clear that the Nigerian Federal government and some State governments are not just making Nigeria a failed State by misgovernance but are actively agitating crisis and chaos and systematically destroying the nation for whatever reasons.”

Leah Sharibu was among the 110 students of Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, in Bulabulin, Yunusari Local Government area of Yobe State, Northeast Nigeria kidnapped by Boko Haram/Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists on February 19, 2018.

On March 21, 2018, 104 of the schoolgirls plus two other children were released after negotiations with the terrorists on 21 March 2018, leaving behind Leah as she refused to denounce her Christian faith and convert to a Muslim.

Convener of the US-Nigeria Law Group, Emmanuel Ogebe, said in the statement that “despite an offer by an American pastor last month to surrender himself in exchange for Leah’s freedom, there has been no tangible response from her captors.

“That notwithstanding, intelligence received on the status of Leah indicates that she has delivered a second child in captivity. While we have not corroborated this by multiple sources, a usually knowledgeable source indicated that she delivered a second child late last year. This means both children were born in 2020 as the terrorists announced her child birth earlier in the year. We’re still investigating it.”

The group lamented the “full scale onslaught on education in Nigeria by Islamist extremists: Boko Haram wars against education. Bandits are kidnapping school kids en masse. The Kwara State government ignited then aided and abetted religious violence against Christian mission school owners in Ilorin over the hijab controversy.

“Not only have terrorists targeted schools but even the state government has targeted Christian schools in violation of the historical agreements reached on their rights as proprietors to maintain their ethos and credos.

“Also in Gombe state, the government has ignited, aided, abetted and incited religious violence against the majority Christian community of Tangale by appointing a Muslim who lost the election by kingmakers over the Christian who won and was better qualified not only as a medical doctor but one with significant international exposure, as chief.  The governor’s recorded remarks calling for arming of youths to shut down legitimate protesters makes him complicit for any atrocities that result.

“The reason why the US and UN do not as a principle negotiate with terrorists is not for lack of funds or concern but strategic – do not create a precedent that will make your citizens or diplomats become easy profit targets for kidnappers!

“We must have consequences under the rule of law. Instead foreign Fulanis can now monetize kidnapping Nigerians with impunity. Bad governance has consequences as does lack of principles. No nation  that makes a value system where terrorists are rewarded by the government and graduates are tortured by government’s SARS can thrive.

“This is why we told the ICC (International Criminal Court) that there’s no justice for terrorism in Nigeria. The government has created a hostage cottage industry and vulnerable schoolchildren are now being ranched and sold like cattle for the benefit of both the bandits and complicit beneficiaries and collaborators in government.”

Credit: Global Upfront