Kidnapped Dapchi schoolgirl Leah Sharibu gives birth to second child three years after capture

GOVERNMENT Girls’ Science and Technical College Dapchi abducted pupil Leah Sharibu has given birth to her second child after three years in Boko Haram captivity according to the US-Nigeria Law Group.

In 2018, Leah was kidnapped along with several of her classmates from Dapchi in Yobe State but was not released with the others after she allegedly refused to renounce her Christian faith. Despite a concerted international campaign calling for her release, Boko Haram have kept her in captivity and in January last year, it emerged that she had given birth to a baby son.

Now, according to the US-Nigeria Law Group, Leah has delivered a second baby after being forcefully married to a Boko Haram commander. Condemning the development, the group lamented the condition in which Ms Sharibu has found herself as it could be argued that the government has abandoned her.

Emmanuel Ogebe, the US-Nigeria Law Group convener, said: "Despite an offer by an American pastor last month to surrender himself in exchange for Leah’s freedom, there has been no tangible response from her captors. That notwithstanding, intelligence received on the status of Leah indicates that she has delivered a second child in captivity.

“While we have not corroborated this by multiple sources, a usually knowledgeable source indicated that she delivered a second child late last year. This means both children were born in 2020 as the terrorists announced her childbirth earlier in 2020 and we are still investigating this.”

President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to do anything possible to free Leah from the terrorists but three years have passed now and the innocent schoolgirl, a good number of Chibok schoolgirls and many other unreported cases are still being held captives. Apparently, Leah, who was 14 years old at the time she was kidnapped, was not released because she refused to convert to Islam.