President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to secure the freedom of Leah Sharibu, the only Dapchi schoolgirl still in the custody of Boko Haram terrorists.
The insurgents had on Wednesday returned 104 out of the 110 girls abducted from Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, in Yobe State on February 19.
Five of them had reportedly died while Miss Sharibu, a Christian, was not released reportedly because she refused conversion to Islam.
A statement released on Thursday by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said the government “will not relent in efforts to bring Leah Sharibu safely back home to her parents as it has done for the other girls.”
Buhari, the statement said “is fully conscious of his duty under the constitution to protect all Nigerians, irrespective of faith, ethnic background or geopolitical location and will not shirk in this responsibility.
“The President is equally mindful of the fact that true followers of Islam all over the world respect the injunction that there is no compulsion in religion.
“To this effect, no one or group can impose its religion on another.
“His heart goes out to the isolated parents who must watch others rejoice while their own daughter is still away.
“The lone Dapchi girl, Leah, will not be abandoned.
“President Buhari assures the Sharibu family that he will continue to do all he can to ensure that they also have cause to rejoice with their daughter soon.”
Foremost Islamic group, Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has condemned the reported attempt by Boko Haram to compel Leah Sharibu to use hijab, saying the attempt to force her to convert to Islam is reprehensible.
Arguing that the refusal to release the innocent girl was against the principle of humanity and uncalled for, MURIC said in a statement on Thursday that “Boko Haram’s doctrine is heretical and its methods stand in contradistinction to those of pristine Islam.”
