Kidnapped by Boko Haram
Three years ago, Nigerian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu was kidnapped by Boko Haram. Leah is just one of many Christians girls who have been kidnapped by the radical Nigerian Islamist group. As Leah enters her fourth year of captivity, Aid to the Church in Need calls on our benefactors and supports to join Leah’s family in prayer that their daughter may soon be released.
By ACN Staff
Leah Sharibu. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Today, three years ago, a Nigerian Christian schoolgirl called Leah Sharibu was kidnapped by the Nigerian Islamist group called the Islamic State of West Africa, who are better known by their old name, Boko Haram. In the lead up to this anniversary, Maria Lozano from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) interviewed Pastor Gideon Para-Mallam. Pastor Gideon is a Protestant missionary in northern Nigeria and is president of Para-Mallam Peace Foundation. Pastor Gideon has been in regular contact with Leah’s family and has been following Leah’s case.
Pastor Gideon Para-Mallam. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Leah was last in contact with her mother, Rebecca, at the end of January 2018. Rebecca had been visiting her then 14-year-old daughter at a government-run boarding school in the northeast Nigerian state of Yobe. It is believed that it was in Yobe State that the infamous Boko Haram was first established. The northeast of Nigeria is the hotbed of militant Islamist activity in the West African country. In 2015, Boko Haram joined forces with ISIS and was renamed the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA). On 19th February 2018, ISWA attacked Leah’s school and kidnapped 110 schoolgirls. Leah was one of these girls.
On 20th March 2018, the majority of the schoolgirls were released. Leah was kept in captivity by the Islamists because she refused to renounce her faith in Jesus Christ. In September of the same year, Boko Haram released a video of Leah making an appeal for her release. Pastor Gideon tells us:
“That was the last we have ever heard directly from Leah.”
Pastor Gideon explains that it is very difficult to exactly say where Leah is at the moment:
“So, its difficult to say exactly or with certainty where Leah might be right now. Sometimes we hear they are in the Lake Chad region, other times, in Niger Republic or in Chad. It is hard to be precise.”
Leah, like some of the other female captives of Boko Haram, has been “married” to one of the commanders of the Islamist group and Boko Haram have said she will spend the rest of her life as a slave.
Protest for the release of girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, including Leah Sharibu. (Credit: Catalyst for Global Peace and Justice)
In January 2020, a captive held by ISWA (Boko Haram) was released. This captive, had not come into personal contact with Leah, but had spoken with other captives who met Leah in captivity. Leah is now 17-year-old and by all reports is still alive. However, Pastor Gideon has said some of the reports on how she is doing are not positive, with him deciding it would be imprudent to speak of the details. There are reports the Leah has converted to Islam. Pastor Gideon is sceptical about these claims:
“But I asked a simple question: would this be a voluntary or forced conversion? Would forced conversion to Islam in captivity be considered a willing conversion? Do not forget that Leah was held back in the first place because she decided at the young age of 14 to remain true to her Christian conviction. What a heroine of the Christian faith that Leah is and represents! Let’s pray for her to remain steadfast in her faith in Christ even at this dark hour when the trial of her faith is being stretched to limits that even adults won’t easily face. Leah, keep strong in Him!!!”
Leah’s mother Rebecca at the press conference. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Pastor Gideon has called on fellow Christians to join in prayer with Leah’s family. He spoke with Leah’s parents this week. Leah’s father, Nathan, said:
“We remain hopeful that Leah will be free one day.”
Leah’s mother Rebecca, who has not seen her daughter in three years, likewise is hopeful:
“Times are in the hands of God and by His grace we will see Leah one day.”
ACN joins in the calls made by Pastor Gideon that we, brothers and sisters in Christ, join together in prayer with Leah’s family, that they shall soon be reunited with their daughter. And that also, the hearts of Leah’s captors may be open to God, that they know the need to repent of their ways and halt their inhumane action of keeping a child from her parents.