Leah Sharibu, the Christian teenager, who was abducted from her boarding school in Yobe State, by Boko Haram insurgents, gave birth to a baby boy early Saturday, according to multiple sources.
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On February 19, 2018 at 5:30 pm, 110 schoolgirls aged 11–19 years old, were kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi.
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On 21 March 2018 the Federal government announced that Boko Haram terrorists had returned 106 of the kidnapped children.
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Leah, aged fourteen at the time of her capture, is the only remaining Dapichi schoolgirl still held hostage. She was reportedly not released along with the other children, because she refused to convert to Islam.
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It has been gathered she was married off to a top Boko Haram commander who lives outside Nigeria. Sources said Leah was delivered of the baby early Saturday in Niger Republic.
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It was gathered that the insurgents had wanted to release her few months ago but couldn’t because she was pregnant. Sources said Leah was forced to accept Islam before being forcefully married off.
Her Parents’ reaction:
The family of Christian teenage schoolgirl abducted by Boko Haram terrorists in 2018, Leah Sharibu, has now reacted to the New development.
A senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Jos, Dr. Gloria Puldu, who speaks for the family, told Sunday Punch on Saturday that all they wanted was to have Leah home alive, with or without a baby.
Reacting to the reports, Puldu said, “I have seen reports that Leah had a baby boy. That is just a rumour as far as we are concerned. What we even desire is to see a proof of life so that we see Leah by ourselves. If they are able to have Leah safe, we will understand.
“The most important thing is that we want her to be alive. And if she is alive, we will praise God for that. They should release her, despite whatever condition she is in. That is all; it doesn’t matter whether she is pregnant or with a baby. Is it not better to have your child alive? So, it doesn’t matter, all we are interested in is her life and safety.”
Incidentally, President of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (Church of the Brethren), Rev Joel Billi, told PUNCH that a journalist who has access to Boko Haram, Ahmad Salkida, told him Leah had become a mother.
The cleric said he got the call from Salkida on the same day the journalist announced the execution of the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Rev Lawan Andimi, by Boko Haram.
Billi said, “I was also told by Ahmad Salkida that Leah Sharibu had given birth to a baby. I was devastated. I was staggering and almost fell down because I was shocked to hear that. I couldn’t absorb the shock because Leah Sharibu had become a symbol of the Christian faith. I consider her Christian faith stronger than even that of many church leaders. When I heard that Leah Sharibu was now a mother, I had to ask more than three times just to be sure. Ahmad Salkida said, ‘Leah Sharibu is now a mother.’”
