THERE are so many issues competing for attention again this weekend. The story of consensus challenges that have plagued the ruling party’s primary is worth discussing. Even the defiance in the ancient city of Ibadan, the iconic J.P Clark once described as the ‘running splash of rust and gold –flung and scattered among seven hills like broken china in the sun’, where Seyi Makinde dared to scorn defection to the land that is flowing with milk and honey is also topical.
The three-years old relentless attack on Citizen Peter Obi and his movement is worth deconstructing too. The BUA chairman’s homily at the CEO and Leaders colloquium in Kigali is also a relevant discussion point. Even our leader’s call on African leaders to be constructive with foreign investors is a construct worth examining.
Besides, the ‘constructive collaboration’ of the new PDP with the ruling party in Port Harcourt on the watch of the man I portrayed the other day as “an untouchable genius”, should not be ignored by commentators at this time too. What of the ‘deregulation’, sorry ‘separation of powers’ of the Office of National Security Advisers, (ONSA) this week? That is a big story that can attract ‘matters arising’.
But I have decided to follow up the story of our shared humanity: the 2018 story of ‘The Guardian’s goddess of resistance, Citizen Leah Sharibu who clocked 23 in the captivity of the wicked this week(May 14).
It is another time to stir the conscience of the nation and the world again that Nigeria’s leaders have failed Citizen Leah, since 2018. The Church of God in Nigeria too appears to have forgotten their ‘Daughter of Zion’ in the valley. The mainstream media too appears weary of reporting the struggle for Leah’s release. This week, only ‘Vanguard’, did a fitting anniversary story by Efe Onodjae. What of the CSOs? Only The Para-Mallam Peace Foundation and “Friends of Leah Sharibu” women group led by Mrs Grace Osifekun remembered Citizen Leah through some media events that can be tracked this year. More powers to the elbows of Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam who have continued to organise remembrance activities on the datelines of Leah. Hearty cheers too to Mrs Osifekun and her group.
As for me, I will continue to prioritise advocacy on attention for her release. I won’t stop writing and talking about her until something happens. I met a top national security chief the other day and I touched off the issue of the travail of Leah in captivity since 2018. The response of the security chief was quite disappointing. He told me that Leah was no longer interested in her freedom and she had been assimilated into the wilderness of the wicked where she was said to have given birth to children against her wish. This is a revelation of what the security chiefs must have been telling the commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the absence of regular agitation by the First Ladies of Nigeria, the Ministers of Defence, Interior, and Woman Affairs, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Adamawa State Government, among others.
Even this same Reno Omokri, now an ambassador-designate has forgotten about Citizen Leah Sharibu, he once spent money to write a book about. The original Omokri was the patriot who researched the roots of Leah and reported in a book that the Sharibus actually hail from Adamawa state. The organic Reno then gave a newsworthy detail in the remarkable book that Leah’s father was, in fact, still serving in the Nigeria police force when his daughter was abducted. It was that national service in the Police Force that took the Sharibu’s family to Yobe state where the abduction took place. Even the then Peace Ambassador, Omokri has left Leah in the lurch.
This is how The Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation celebrated the Leah’s birthday this week with prayers: Their invitation letter itself was inspiring:
‘Dear Friend and Partner’ they wrote: “When the world forgets the captive, heaven still hears their name. Every prayer lifted for Leah is a refusal to surrender hope, justice, and the dignity of human life.” At just 14 years old, Leah Sharibu was abducted alongside other schoolgirls in Dapchi, Nigeria. Eight years later, she remains in captivity. On the 14th of May 2026, Leah turns 23. While many have moved on, we refuse to forget. We refuse to be silent. We believe prayer still matters, justice still matters, and Leah’s life still matters. The Gideon and Funmi Para-Mallam Peace Foundation invites you to join believers, peace advocates, and concerned people from around the world for a special virtual prayer gathering in honour of Leah Sharibu and in continued hope for her release. This will be a moment of intercession, reflection, solidarity, and renewed commitment to stand for truth, peace, freedom, and human dignity…”
Then Mrs Grace Osifekun Group took it from there as recorded by ‘Vanguard’
‘Leah Sharibu at 23: Women’s group seeks to keep her story alive’.
‘Today, Leah Sharibu turns 23, a painful reminder of the years stolen from a young girl whose only “offence” was refusing to renounce her Christian faith. Since her abduction by insurgents from Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, in 2018, Leah’s story has become a symbol of courage, resilience, and the continuing tragedy of insecurity and religious persecution in Nigeria. While many of her classmates regained freedom, Leah remains in captivity, her absence continuing to weigh heavily on the conscience of the nation…To ensure that her story is not forgotten, a group of concerned women under the auspices of Friends of Leah Sharibu, is marking her 23rd birthday with renewed advocacy and public engagement.
Speaking to ‘Vanguard’ during an advocacy and enlightenment visit, the women, led by Mrs. Grace Osifekun, said the campaign is aimed at reminding government, civil society, and international community that Leah is still in captivity and must not be abandoned to silence or fading public attention. She said every passing birthday is both a heartbreaking milestone and a renewed opportunity to demand urgent action for her release’.
Whether politicians who are jostling for election and re-election like it or not, Leah has become a symbol of persecution of Christians in Nigeria. A lot more have been abducted, kidnapped and even killed. But Leah stands out. Her case is unique because she stood her ground and said she was not going to deny her faith.
And so as we shout 24 hearty cheers to a jihadist captive in May 14, 2026, I would like to reiterate my appeal to the Nigerian government and the international community to end their unfathomable and strange silence and help secure the young lady’s release.
Let’s recall that in February 2020, mother of Leah, Mrs. Rebecca Sharibu, raised concerns on the commitment of the federal government to secure the release of her daughter from Boko Haram terrorists. Mrs. Sharibu, who spoke in an interview with the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London, noted then that she had serious doubts on the willingness of the government to secure the release of her daughter.
As I was saying, ‘The Guardian’ (Nigeria) had in the same 2018 manifested Citizen Leah as its “Person of the Year”. Let’s recall vividly that Leah had in a clear audio message in 2018 begged President Buhari Muhammadu Buhari as a father to come to her rescue. However, the government said the clip would be verified to be sure that it was Leah’s voice. And so on Wednesday, October 3, 2018, Buhari reportedly consoled Leah’s biological family and assured her parents that the Federal Government would do its utmost for the safety and security of Leah. The president was quoted as telling Mrs Sharibu: “I convey my emotion, the strong commitment of my administration and the solidarity of all Nigerians to you and your family as we will do our best to bring your daughter home in peace and safety.”
As it was recalled here the other day, despite Buhari’s assurance to the mother of Leah, the albatross still hangs on the neck of Abuja as the girl who is said to have given birth to two babies in captivity is still being held in an unknown forest. As I was also saying, on so many occasions, notably at the quarterly security briefings at the National Intelligence Agency (NIA headquarters, Abuja I had raised the grave implications of continued silence of the state actors on “the safety and whereabouts of the only Christian girl on the Dapchi 2018 tragedy”.
This is also worth recalling: barely a week after the appointment of Malam Nuhu Ribadu as the National Security Adviser (NSA) in June, 2023, in a chance meeting with Media executives in Lagos, I also raised the thorny issue of the Leah Sharibu challenge to the security and intelligence agencies in Nigeria. The NSA who also hails from Adamawa state, promised to deal with the reproach as quickly as possible. Again, till the present, there has been no update from the NSA’s office on the plight of the unlucky girl. It is incredibly reproachful that Nigeria’s “goddess of resistance to terror” is still being held hostage. As I was saying here too, this ugly reality is a monumental embarrassment, because the ‘‘child’’ Leah had even cried out to her ‘‘father’’ of the nation then, President Buhari to rescue her.
And so our leader, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should note today that the story of Leah Sharibu’s capture and her continued detention by Boko Haram insurgents as a result of her refusal to renounce her faith is a national tragedy that won’t fizzle out until the girl is released. Leah’s defiance echoes a bright message of love, selflessness, courage and hope to our nation. The goddess of resistance to terror, should be treated anywhere as the number one soldier on the frontline in defence of Nigeria’s now fragile unity, peace and progress. She is a true heroine who should be nominated by stakeholders and Foundations for Nobel Peace Prize.
That is also why I would like to repeat my appeal to our First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, who has been acknowledged as a respected woman of faith by even the United States President, Hurricane Donald Trump,to step into the Leah Sharibu’s reproach to the nation.
In the same vein, the Women Affairs Minister, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, unarguably Leah’s most prominent father in Adamawa, and the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, another very significant citizen of Adamawa should work with the very influential First Lady to ensure that this administration celebrates very soon the return of Citizen Leah Sharibu and other missing girls. If the Tinubu administration can remove this albatross from the neck of the Federal Government, the Christian communities worldwide would join Nigeria in hailing this administration for their commitment to peace building and reconciliation in Nigeria as I noted in March this year.
- Oloja is former editor of The Guardian newspaper and his column, Inside Stuff, runs on the back page of the newspaper on Sunday. The column appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.