“I am calling on the government and people of goodwill to intervene to get me out of my current situation. Kindly help me out of my predicament. I am begging you to treat me with compassion. I am calling on the government, particularly the president, to pity me and get me out of this serious situation.” – Leah Sharibu, 2018.
The appeal above, calling for rescue and justice, was made eight years ago. Unsurprisingly, many Nigerians may no longer recognise Leah Sharibu’s emotional voice, as efforts towards her rescue have significantly diminished. Leah was just an innocent student until the school attack of February 19, 2018, at Dapchi, Yobe State, which changed everything.
Fourteen-year-old Leah, in a viral video in August 2018, had appealed to former President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue her and about 109 others abducted from the Government Girls Science and Technical School in Yobe State. The young girl, who reportedly refused to renounce her Christian faith, has remained missing to this day. And the attack on schools, however, has never stopped.
Emerging as one of the major news stories in the country, suspected gunmen descended and unleashed terror on Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota and Community Grammar School Esiele, Oriire LGA, Oyo State, on Friday, May 15, carrying out a coordinated mass kidnapping of pupils and staff. They threw the immediate victims, loved ones, family members, affected communities and the country at large into sorrow and uncertainty.
