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Buhari failed Leah Sharibu – Activist

Leah foundation

Almost five years after the abduction of Leah Sharibu, she has yet to regain her freedom from captivity, FRIDAY OLOKOR speaks with Dr Gloria Puldu, the founder of the Leah Foundation

What is the real update about Leah Sharibu after all these years?

It is so sad that over four years down the road, almost 5 years, if Leah is not released by February 2023, she will have been in captivity for 5 years, and the latest update that we have is from a young lady who escaped captivity about a month ago. She gave us full details of where she is and she said she is alive. She was there when Leah gave birth to her second baby, so that confirms that she has two children

So, Leah is still alive; she is still there with so many girls. We are asking the government, “Will Buhari leave the government without fulfilling this promise that he made to the mother and the father?” Her younger brother is now in university, so Leah should have been in the university or almost graduating, yet this young child is still there, and you know so many of them are still being kidnapped daily. So, it is very sad that President Buhari has not yet fulfilled his promise.

And the sad thing is that, with all these presidential candidates, we are wondering what it is that they have for us; in case Buhari has not been able to rescue these girls, what are they going to do? None of them is telling us.

And so one question we are asking them is, “What will you do to rescue these young women that are there?”

When was your last conversation with the government, either Buhari or any of the government functionaries, like Leah’s parents?

Our last conversation was just last month, on International Girl Child Day, and, as you know, they don’t give us access to see them face-to-face; you are the ones who are helping us convey the messages we have through the media. Every time we keep talking, even during these 16 days of activism, we know that some women have come out and spoken about what is happening.

So, for us, the last girl-child was when we came and said, “What are we still doing? Our daughter is still there, and during these 16 days of activism, we are also asking them, “So, on a daily basis, wherever we see, wherever we go, we will never forget our child, our daughters; they are our Nigerian children, and we cannot forget about them.”

So, if they have forgotten their responsibilities and have abandoned our daughters, we will not forget them; we will continue to ask them, continue to pressure them, and continue to tell them to release our daughters, and history will hold them responsible.

When was the last time Buhari spoke with Leah’s parents?

In the last four years, he has only spoken to Leah’s parents once.

When was that?

That was after seven months of Leah’s captivity, when her video was released, at our very first international conference, when we saw the video and said, “Leah is being threatened to be killed by Boko Haram, and they’ve released that video,” and you know that night was the day he called Leah’s mother because the Plateau State governor helped us connect on that day because we had that interview in Plateau.

So, that night was the only day, and since that time, not the first lady, not Buhari, not any government official except Pauline Tallen, who came after two years when she assumed duty as the minister but since then, we have not seen anybody again.

The Minister of Women Affairs has visited Chibok and spoken to them, and that is all since that time.

There was a time when Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information made some statements.

That was two weeks after Buhari spoke to Leah’s mother; that was when he went to Dapchi, and we were there together to receive them, thinking that they had brought our daughter because Buhari spoke to her and assured her that they were going to bring her.

And so on that day, Lai Mohammed was there with two other ministers; that was two weeks after Buhari spoke, and up until today, not even a mention, nothing, not even a call to the parents, nothing; they just made our noise and we just cried, that’s all.

Now that insecurity is getting worse in the country, do you think the next government will be able to address these issues?

If the Nigerians will rise and do the right thing by voting the right party and the right people into positions of leadership, then these people, I believe because they are right, will have the political will to fight insecurity because, you know, any government that tells you that it cannot stop insecurity is because it doesn’t have the political will; they are just playing politics with our lives, and that is all I can say.

If Buhari wants to stop insecurity in this country today, he will stop it. Abacha famously said, “If insecurity lasts longer than how many hours, you hold the government accountable.”

So, as far as we are concerned, they lack the political will to put a stop to what is happening. We are praying that Nigerians will wake up and vote for the right leaders, as well as ensure that we protect our votes and that it is these right people who are representing us so that we can have good governance. With this, insecurity will be a thing of the past, and all the social amenities that we require will be developed.

Are you bothered that none of the presidential candidates in the course of their campaigns has made any promise to rescue Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi, or the Chibok girls if elected?

That was the question we posed to them on the International Day of the Girl Child. We asked, “What are you saying about our girls?” Are you concerned? If you are concerned, then tell us what you are going to do, because we have completely lost hope in this government.

They have less than 80 days to go before the elections, so after the elections, you know, it is like virtually all of them have gone, so we have lost hope.

But those of you who are campaigning, especially the major political parties, we ask; what is your plan concerning our women and girls who are in the forest and who are in captivity? We looked for ways to meet with them but they don’t give us the opportunity, so we have the media to help us; so we are asking them, “What are your plans for the rescue of our girls, the Dapchi girls, Leah Sharibu, the Chibok girls, and every other girl that is in captivity? What is your plan for their release, for their rescue?”

What about the international community; have you reached out to countries like the United Kingdom and the United States of America?

We have constantly spoken with the international community; they give us opportunities to speak about the persecution of Christians and what is happening with Boko Haram, but one thing we continue to demand is that we not just voice our opinions; we want to see action, and we want to see the American government act.

The only thing that we got from the American government in recent months was Nigeria being removed even from the countries of particular concern. That was a huge move against what we are doing, and it is terrible.

And so we continue to ask them to please pressure the Nigerian government, tell them to do the needful, and hold them accountable.

Is insecurity in particular targeted at Christians?

As far as we are concerned, if you look at the population of what is happening and the communities that have been targeted, you will notice that it is always the Christian communities that are targeted, especially in the North Central and North Eastern parts of the country, and that it is the Christian women who are left in captivity when they are kidnapped.

Most of them that are not released are Christian women because we have had experiences where people have been kidnapped and then it was discovered that they were not Christians, and then they were released, while the Christians are made to become slaves in captivity.

So as far as we are concerned, it is a huge, big attack on the Christian communities in the north. Go and find out what is happening in Benue, what is happening in the Plateau, what is happening in southern Kaduna, and what is happening in the North East.

Look at what has happened in Sokoto with Deborah’s case; look at what is happening with all the other people, so you can.

Talking about Deborah’s case, people say it is a case of persecution, and we have young women being forced into marriage. Do you think there are adequate laws to make sure that perpetrators do not go unpunished?

These are some of the issues that we are asking the government to address: blasphemy, persecution of people, various forms of violence against women and girls, and religious freedom for everyone, whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, or whatever; your right should be free; it should not be violated. Government should be able to bring perpetrators to book whenever they want.

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