Why we must keep praying for Leah Sharibu
Quick Read (3-4 minutes)
The 19th of February will be a particularly difficult day for one family in Nigeria’s Yobe State. For Nathan and Rebecca Sharibu, it will mark the third anniversary of the abduction of their now 17-year-old daughter Leah.
Leah was one of 110 girls abducted from their school in Dapchi by members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of the notorious Boko Haram terrorist group, back in February 2018. After just over a month in captivity, during which five of the girls had died, the Nigerian authorities negotiated the release of the remaining schoolgirls and they were put into trucks to be returned to their families.
But Leah was not among them. As the sole Christian in the group, the terrorists had demanded that she renounce her faith and convert to Islam in exchange for her release. In a show of bravery few of us could even imagine, and at the age of just 14, Leah refused to do so.
She has remained the terrorists’ captive ever since. Over the past three years, occasional reports have emerged which paint a picture of her plight. In October 2018, ISWAP declared that both Leah, and a Christian nurse named Alice Loksha Ngaddah, would be their slaves for life after releasing videos depicting the executions of two of Alice’s Muslim colleagues for alleged apostasy.
Despite this, Leah’s family along with CSW and many others, have not stopped calling on the Nigerian government to secure her release. Last year, Leah’s mother Rebecca joined CSW at a protest outside the Nigerian High Commission in London to mark the second anniversary of her daughter’s abduction, where she pleaded with those gathered to “continue praying until Leah is out.”
Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, has personally promised Rebecca that he would ensure Leah’s freedom, however another year has passed and it seems that this promise is no closer to being realised, with Buhari’s government instead seemingly more interested in cracking down on those who speak out regarding the country’s gradual slide into failed-statehood.
As well as the threat posed by ISWAP and the other faction of Boko Haram, Nigeria continues to face a severe and unfolding crisis across the country’s central states, where CSW receives regular reports of horrific violence, primarily perpetrated by members of a Fulani militia, on a near-daily basis. Not only has the government failed in its commitment to secure Leah’s release, but it has failed entirely to address this violence, leaving non-Muslim communities across the region vulnerable to attack, murder and abduction, enabling the violence to spread to Hausa Muslim farming communities in the north-west.
It’s hard to know where to start when faced with so much heartbreak and injustice as we look to Nigeria. However, we can definitely draw inspiration from the courageous faith of Leah, and indeed many other Christians across the country, and hold on to the truth that we believe in a God who will never leave or forsake Nigeria.
We can stand fast in the knowledge that Leah is still alive and healthy as we pray for her freedom; we can call on God to send His peace to Leah’s family and friends, and to all those who have had loved ones killed or abducted by non-state actors in the country; and we can continue to pray for miraculous breakthrough across Nigeria so that citizens of all faiths and none can live their lives free from the threat of violence by any forces that would seek to do them harm.
Here in the UK, it is also essential that we keep Leah on our government’s radar. The best way to do this is by writing to our local MPs and encouraging them to put her case before the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, so that officials can raise her case with their Nigerian counterparts.
For a template letter to send to your MP and for more information on praying for Leah and others, visit the CSW website here.
