Parents of the only Dapchi schoolgirl still being held by Boko Haram are hopeful that she will return home.
Leah Sharibu, a SS 1 pupil, sent a message to her mother that the family should pray “for the will of God to be done”.The Nayion reports.
President Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday that the government would not abandon her.
Leah, the only Christian among the 110 girls kidnapped on February 19, was not released along with 104 others on Wednesday.
Five of the girls died on the day they were abducted.
Leah’s mother, Mrs Rebecca Sharibu, fainted when she was told on Wednesday that her daughter was not released.
Mrs Sharibu told our reporter yesterday that her daughter sent a message that the family should pray for God’s will to be done.
Mrs Sharibu has not lost hope that her daughter would return. She vowed to continue to pray for her to be released.
She said: ”The released girls told us that the insurgents insisted that my daughter must renounce her religion. But she told them she had no single knowledge of Islam and could not be a Muslim. She was then left out of the Dapchi trip. They told her that any day she accepts Islam, she will be released.
”Leah, we were told was left behind with three Boko Haram women but she sent the message through her mates that we should pray for the will of God to be done in her life”.
She urged the Federal Government to negotiate for her daughter’s freedom, saying:
”So I plead that the government and the negotiation team should revisit the terms of the agreement to ensure the release of my daughter. Everybody has his religion and no one should be compelled to practice a religion he or she never wishes to”.
Leah’s father Nathan Sharibu thanked the Dapchi community for standing by him and his family.
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
