On 19 February 2018 at 5:30pm, Boko Haram kidnapped 110 schoolgirls from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College located in northeast Nigeria. After a month of negotiations between the Nigerian government and Boko Haram, 104 out of the 105 girls left alive were released from captivity and returned home to their families, leaving Leah Sharibu, a 14 year old Nigerian schoolgirl, alone in captivity.
February marks the fourth anniversary of the abduction of Leah. She is the only child to still be held from that kidnapping and continues to be held captive because she refuses to renounce her Christian faith according to multiple former Boko Haram prisoners who had contact with her.
Leah, who turns nineteen on 14 May, seems to have been married off to one of her abductors and is rumoured to have two children, though hard evidence of her current state is difficult to come by because she is not allowed any contact with her family. The only news comes from survivors of Boko Haram who have either escaped or been released. Leah’s case has been the subject of worldwide outrage and helps to illustrate the way Islamist terrorism impacts Christian communities in Nigeria. The Nigerian government, though outwardly sympathetic to Leah’s situation, has seemed to do little to rescue her.
Please continue to pray for Leah Sharibu and her family, including her two young children. Pray that they would be released and have the opportunity to be healed from trauma and be reunited with family.
Pray that the Lord will grant wisdom to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian government.
Pray for the healing of Nigeria, for the end of mass abductions and killings, and for the Lord to transform the hearts of those who persecute the church.
Source: International Christian Concern, Voice of the Martyrs AU
We must never forget Leah.