08042018 - Education in free fall! •Sector gets paltry N3.9 trillion out of N55.19 trillion in 10 years

PAGE 26— SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 8, 2018
DAPCHI GIRL: AGONY OF A FATHER
Nobody has told
me anything about
Leah's whereabouts
•Leah
By Sam Eyoboka
CITIZEN
Nathaniel
Sharibu hails from
Hong Local Government Area of
Adamawa State. He is a member of
Evangelical Church Winning All, ECWA on
posting to Yobe State. After serving his intial
time in Dapchi, headquarters of Bursari Local
Government Area of Yobe, the father of three
was further posted to Taraba State.
Not wanting to obstruct his children's
academic calendar, the Police officer decided
to relocate to Taraba alone leaving his family
behind in Dapchi.
Once in a while he visits Dapchi to fellowship
with his family before returning to Taraba,
his place of primary assignment until
Monday, February 19, when Boko Haram
insurgents invaded Government Science and
Technical College, Dapchi abducting over 110
schoolgirls including his 15-year old daughter,
Leah Sharibu.
Speaking to our reporter on
telephone, Mr. Sharibu who's
been receiving phone calls from
across the globe, has only one
wish: To behold his highly
esteemed curtain raising
daughter, 15-year Leah join the
rest of the family to mark this
year’s Easter at the ECWA in
Dapchi where prayers are daily
being offered for her safe return.
Citizen Nath, a Police Officer
serving the nation in
neighboring Taraba State, has
since March 21, 2018 when
Boko Haram insurgents
reunited 104 schoolgirls except
Leah, who was said to have
refused to renounce her
Christian faith; has
understandably been downcast
though hopeful as prayers are
being offered across the globe
for the safe return of the heroine
of faith.
He told our reporter that he had
nothing to tell any more
because “Till now I have not
heard anything and no
•Mr. Sharibu
authority has told me anything about the
whereabouts of Leah.
"Loved ones were calling to congratulate me
that my daughter is on her way home. But
uptil now I have not seen anything yet,” adding
“it’s very sad; if we are going to celebrate the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ without
Leah.”
Fighting tears, he narrated how the rest of the
family has been coping without Leah.
According to him, Leah who hopes to be a
medical doctor in future has remained the
lone captive of the Islamic insurgents who have
unsuccessfully insisted that she renounce her
Christian faith and convert to Islam.
The father of three said his "wife fainted and
was rushed to a hospital when Leah's 104
school mates were returned to Dapchi after
one month in captivity."
While thanking all those praying fervently
across the globe for his daughter’s safe rescue,
he appealed to the
Federal Government and
the abductors who are still
holding back their
daughter, to please let go
Leah to rejoin the family
ahead of the Easter
I am begging
because this thing
is no longer a
Sharibu’s problem,
it’s no longer a
Yobe State CAN
problem, it’s no
longer just a
Nigerian problem;
the international
community is
looking at what we
make out of this
celebration.
“I really have nothing
much to say now except
that Leah is not yet back
to join the rest of the
family. The trauma within
the Family can only be
imagined, especially as
her school mates have
been released to rejoin
their families," he appealed.
The Evangelical Church
Winning All (ECWA), has
hailed the courage,
doggedness and faith of
Leah Sharibu, who was
abducted along other 109
other schoolgirls by Boko
Haram insurgents in
Dapchi, but still remains
in captivity because of her inability to recite
the Quran.
Public Relations Officer of ECWA, Rev.
Romanus Ebebwokodi, in a recent statement,
said: “We, in ECWA, are thankful that the
Federal Government negotiated the release
of all the abductees, includ-ing Leah. We are
so happy that 104 of the girls, plus two other
victims, have been releas-ed as at Wednesday,
March 21, and are in safe hands.
“However, we are very surprised and sad
that the Boko Haram abductors have
refused to release Leah Sharibu, simply
because she is a Christian and would not
give up her Christian faith for her release.
Leah is a member of ECWA in Dapchi. We
call on the Federal Government and all
its agencies to ensure the immediate
release of Leah without any conditions.
She is a law abiding Nigerian, who is at
liberty to practise her Christian profession
to the fullest.
“We condemn in strong terms, any attempt
to forcefully convert anyone from one religion
to another. As a church, we continue to pray
for her release and those of all abducted
Nigerians,” the ECWA statement added.
In his own response, Rev. Bright Ogbansiegbe,
act-ing Chairman of Christian Association of
Nigeria, CAN, Yobe State branch said there
was so much confusion when word filtered
into the commu-nity that the girl has been
released and she's on her way, but when he
called the girl’s father he said he was yet to see
his daughter.
“I spoke with the office of the DSS, when I
told them that as far as I'm concerned,
whatever measure was used for the release of
the 104, should be used for the remaining one
because keeping her three kilometers away, if
anything happens before she gets to her house,
it’s going to be a very serious breakdown of
law. The Commissioner of Police called us to
his office. I spoke with him, maybe he was
trying to know our mind as CAN. He said he
heard that there were underground plans that
Christians want to protest.
“But I told him no! We don’t want to protest
because our concern in Yobe is not to cause
more problem that will spill over to other parts
of the country. But then the right thing should
be done because the negotiation was done on
behalf of all the abducted girls. So why is Leah
an exception?
"What is the problem with Leah? Because as
far as I'm concerned, she's an equal citizen of
this country. So she also has the same right
the other children have,” Rev. Ogbansiegbe
who also doubles as CAN Secret-ary said.
According to him, “religion is not compulsory,
there's no compulsion in religion. We can
choose to be whatever we want to be and
besides Niger-ia is a secular state and not a
religious state and it should be respected. As I
speak to you now, even from the National Youth
CAN leader also went to Dapchi and I spoke
with him, up till now, the girl has not still be
released. She has not gotten to her family.
“I can’t tell you how many times the mother of
the girl fainted. Let’s forget about what the
man says on television, the truth is, in the inside
of these people, they are in serious trauma.
Secondly, my other part of concern is that the
trauma would be less when they were 110, but
now that it’s only Leah with that same number
of armed men around her, I now look at how
deep this trauma is.
“I'm still pleading and appealing with the
government, I don’t want to know what was
the arrangement for their release, what I care
about is that we don’t create a serious problem
out of this thing. Because if we Christians in
Yobe are tolerant, what about those in Jos
where there has been this recurrent religious
crisis? What about areas like Taraba, Kaduna?
I've been very careful.
“People call me from left and right. The
#BringBackOurGirls forum and so many
other platforms call me on this issue. I'm very
careful on what I say not to trigger any part of
the nation into violence. As a priest, I'm called
to preach peace and I will maintain it till when
I'm no longer able because there's an extent I
can go. But I want to tell you that the family of
this girl are in a serious dilemma, in a serious
problem, in a serious trauma now. They are
not finding it funny at all in all sincerity.
“The way politicians are talking about the
thing, the IGP said he’s coming, the next thing
they said the press misquoted him. I don’t
understand. That’s human life. They are
playing with this thing but what it will result
to is unimaginable. As far as I'm concerned, if
anything happens now, it won’t just be a soul.
I don’t want to know whatever narrative given
to the whole incident, as far as I'm concerned,
this lady should be released,” the CAN acting
Chairman further stated.
Continuing, the cleric said he wondered why
the insurgents handed over the 104 girls to the
youths in Dapchi and preached for some 20
minutes, shaking hands, snapping
photographs as they accompanied the girls
out of the vehicles.
”One of them said he was able to converse
with the insurgents, and the person was telling
him that he thought that the Dapchi girls were
Christians and that was why they came, only
for them to realize that they are Muslims. Now
looking at what this guy said and what is
playing out, there is no argument than
the fact that this is just an attack on the
Church.
“As far as I'm concerned, God is trying to
expose something in this country. What
I'm concerned about is that they should
not allow a strand of hair on Leah’s head
to break because it will bring a serious
breakdown of law and order. If they are
bringing her, they should bring her the
same way they brought the other girls,
not keeping her in a distance and the news
will say that she has been released just to
cause confusion.
“As far as I'm concerned, human lives
should be respected. If she had died with
the five, it’s a different thing. We can live
with that. But since she is alive, I am
begging the whole world because this
thing is no longer a Sharibu’s problem,
it’s no longer a Yobe State CAN problem,
it’s no longer just a Nigerian problem;
the international community is looking
at what we make out of this. So I'm really
concerned about the kind of trauma the
family of the girl and Leah herself,”the
Meth-odist Church minister stated.
According to Rev. Ogbansiegbe if the lady
still in captivity was a Muslim, “our
churches and houses would have been on
fire by now. I can say this anywhere.
“Everybody in the state is looking at me
because the CAN chairman is on transfer.
By UN standard, Nigerian Christians are
the most persecuted in any part of the
world. Go and check statistics,” he
challenged anybody who is in doubt.