Leah Sharibu, one of the female students of the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, who was abducted alongside over 100 girls on February 19, 2018, by terrorists, now leads a medical team of the terror group in Lake Chad, according to a report.
Five of the girls were reportedly killed in captivity, while Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) returned 104 girls to their families, except Sharibu.
ISWAP reportedly kept Leah Sharibu because she refused to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam.
The government had entered into negotiations with the terrorists, who threatened to kill Sharibu if their demands were not met.
In September 2018, ISWAP executed Saifura Ahmed, one of three humanitarian aid workers linked with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC) they had abducted in March, threatening to do the same to the two others and to Leah Sharibu.
In October, ISWAP killed the second, Hauwa Mohammad Liman, and threatened to keep Sharibu as a “slave for life.”
According to a report, after her abduction, Leah was “trained” on how to administer some medical services to injured Boko Haram fighters and women.
One of the antics of terrorists in the North-East is forcing their captives with expertise in some areas like medicine, nursing, engineering, and computers, among others, to train their members in such areas.
“She was ‘trained’ as medical personnel and now leads the ISWAP medical team in the northern part of the Lake Chad area,” the source said.
Leah Sharibu is also said to have remarried an ISWAP commander after divorcing her first husband, whom she had two children with.
In March 2020, Leah’s father, Nathan, had accused the government of abandoning his family.
“I have not heard anything from the federal, state, or local governments since my daughter was abducted. I am even confused now. I need your assistance to put pressure on the federal government to do something about the release of my daughter,” he said.
