The "LEAH Sharibu" Foundation has made a heartfelt appeal to Remi Tinubu, the wife of President Bola Tinubu, urging her to use her influential position as the first lady of Nigeria to advocate for the release of Leah Sharibu.
Leah, a student of the Government Girls Science and Technical School in Dapchi, Yobe State, North Eastern Nigeria, was abducted by Boko Haram over six years ago, on February 19, 2018. This year, she will turn 20.
Speaking to newsmen in Jos on Monday, the President of the Foundation, Dr. Gloria Samdi Puldu, expressed hope that the appointment of Remi Tinubu as the first lady of Nigeria, a Christian married to a Muslim, could bring a new impetus to the struggle for Leah's release.
Puldu highlighted that the union of Tinubu and his wife serves as a powerful example of religious tolerance in Nigeria.
“Now that we have a new administration we do want to speak directly to the first lady of Nigeria (Remi Tinubu). Your house is an example of how a Christian and a Muslim home should be. Your husband is a Muslim and you a Christian," Puldu said.
She further urged the first lady to use her position to appeal to the President for Leah's release, stating, “We want you to use your position as a first lady and a mother to appeal to the President for the release of Leah and that is the gift you can give to the Christian community."
Puldu lamented that no government official has reached out to Leah’s family to empathise with them and stressed that Leah's plight represents the ordeal of anyone whose relative has been kidnapped in the country.
Echoing Puldu's sentiments, the Executive Director of Total Stage 2 Screen Media For Impact, Mrs Alice Loka-Fashakin, emphasised that every life matters and called for all necessary efforts to secure Leah's return. She said, “I would like to say that the life of every Nigerian must matter, if we don’t see our daughter back, then we will not rest. Leah is 20 already, and this says a lot about our future."
Loka-Fashakin made a passionate plea to the first lady of Nigeria to prioritise the release of the Dapchi school girl. She expressed her belief that God has brought the first lady into her position for a reason, and that Leah's release could be a symbol of truth emerging in Nigeria, transcending religious and gender divides.