…as parents recall unfulfilled promises made by previous administration

By Gloria Ikibah

The Arewa Christians and Indigenous Pastors Association (ACIPA) has renewed its call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to take decisive action to secure the release of Leah Sharibu, the young schoolgirl who was abducted by Boko Haram insurgents over seven years ago.

Naijablitznews.com reports that to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child, which was celebrated on Saturday, 11 October 2025, a solidarity visit was made to the Sharibu family on Monday in Adamawa state, by the ACIPA team led by Rev’d Shehu, and Bishop Nixon Jallo, Chairman of Nehemiah Development Initiatives.

The Chairman of ACIPA, Rev’d Shehu, in his remarks urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, security agencies and political leaders to act where previous administrations had failed.

“Arewa Christians and Indigenous Pastors Association ACIPA, is the first organization that visited Dapchi and had a meeting with the family of Leah Sharibu.

“Precisely, we met with her father, with her mother, because her mother was a teacher at Dapchi, while the father of Leah is a police officer. So the organization met with her soon after the abduction by the terrorists at Dapchi and Arewa Christians and Indigenous Pastors Association is the first organization that met the DSS at the headquarters three times with respect to discussions on her release as a result of some strategic information we had at that time.

“Because Arewa Christians and Indigenous Pastors Association have in perspective, have kept praying and being in contact with the family, we found Saturday, the 11th of October was International Girl Child Day, and we felt we need to meet with the family to reignite the momentum towards pushing the federal government, our security organizations to move towards a process of knowing and identifying where Leah Sharibu is, bearing in mind that the day that Leah Sharibu was abducted at Dapchi in Yobe state, she was the only Christian girl among all the others.

“We are pleading with the Chief of Defence Staff, the Director of SSS, the DG Nigerian National Intelligence Agency, who incidentally is from Adamawa state, like Leah Sharibu is from Adamawa state, and pleading on the Governor of Adamawa state, pleading on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to proceed where the Government of Buhari and the Service Chief of the PASA failed, to have the political will to push towards the process of the release of Leah Sharibu,” he said.

During the visit, Leah’s parents, Mr and Mrs Nathan Sharibu, spoke with deep emotion, recalling the unfulfilled promises made to them by the previous administration.

“Buhari, during his tenure, had called them and spoken with the mother, spoken with the parents and given them assurance that they will do everything possible for Leah Sharibu to be released.

“And of particular note, what they said was that the former Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had personally visited the family at Dapchi in Yobe state, spoke with them and made a promise that the federal government is going to do the needful and all they can to ensure that Leah Sharibu is released. Unfortunately, that did not happen,” they recounted.

Their plea was directed at the current administration of President Tinubu and the Adamawa State government.

“Her parents were basically pleading with the governor of Adamawa state and the president of Nigeria, Bola Ametinu, to hear their plea, have compassion of them, since they are the parents and the leaders of the nation, to hearken into their cry.

“This is the 7th anniversary that Leah Sharibu is in the hands of abductors”, Rev’d Shehu added.

Background: The Abduction of Leah Sharibu
Leah Sharibu was one of 110 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents on 19 February 2018 from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, north-east Nigeria. The mass abduction sent shockwaves across the nation and revived painful memories of the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ kidnapping.

While most of the Dapchi girls were released in March 2018 after negotiations, Leah who was then 14 years old, was held back reportedly because she refused to renounce her Christian faith. Her courageous stand made her a symbol of faith, resistance, and the plight of abducted girls in Nigeria’s insurgency-ravaged north-east.

Over the years, various governments have pledged to secure her freedom, but her whereabouts remain unknown. Leah, now 21, is believed to still be held captive by a faction of Boko Haram or its splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Leah’s prolonged captivity has drawn international attention, with human rights groups, faith communities and foreign governments urging Nigeria to intensify efforts to rescue her. Her case underscores the continuing threat posed by extremist groups to education and girls’ rights in the north-east region.

As the world marked International Day of the Girl Child, ACIPA’s renewed call serves as a reminder that for Leah Sharibu and many others like her, justice and freedom are long overdue.

“We will continue to speak, to pray, and to act. Leah’s story must not be forgotten”, Rev’d Shehu declared.