Ime Akpan
The presidency has said that negotiation for the release of the only Dapchi schoolgirl held in captivity by Boko Haram, Miss Leah Sharibu, has been foreclose going on.
It would be recalled that 15-year-old Sharibu has been in the captivity of Boko Haram insurgents since February 19, 2018 when the insurgents abducted her and 110 other girls from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi in Yobe State.
One hundred and five of the students regained freedom on March 21, 2018 through a series of what the federal government described as ‘behind-the-scene discussion’ while five were said to have died of asphyxiation on the day of captivity and were given a mass burial.
But Sharibu, the only Christian girl among the hostages, was denied her freedom as she refused to convert as a precondition.
On February 19, 2019, the 15-year-old who was just 14 as of the time of abduction, clocked one year in the insurgents’ enclave.
But the special adviser to the president the on media and publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said at the Easter Concert of The Apostolic Faith Church West Africa held in Lagos on Sunday night that the federal government was working frantically for the freedom of Sharibu and the other girls abducted and held by Boko Haram.
However, he would not give details of the negotiation saying they are classified and cannot be made public.
Nevertheless, he pleaded with the country to keep faith alive, saying that the federal government was doing everything possible to secure her release as soon as possible.
“We believe that Leah Sharibu will come back one day; a lot is being done and you know you cannot begin to proclaim sensitive things like that on the pages of the newspaper.
“We should not relent in our prayers, keep hope alive and I am assuring you that the Federal Government is doing everything possible to secure the release of Leah Sharibu.”
Also speaking, the district superintendent of The Apostolic Faith Church, West and Central Africa District, WECA, Rev. Adebayo Adeniran, urged Nigerians to love one another and eschew selfishness, corrupt acts and bitterness.
“We need to look at the significance of Easter in Nigeria. We are not to live selfish lives, we should be able to invest in our country all that we have is for a purpose Jesus made the provision for the cleansing of corruption, God is averse to corruption,” he said.
