Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, President, Women Arise, has called for more accountability by government on issues of child protection and friendliness.
Mrs Okei-Odumakin made the call on Thursday in Lagos in commemoration of Leah Sharibu’s 17th birthday.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Ms Sharibu was one of the 110 students of the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe, which was abducted on February 19, 2018 by Boko Haram insurgents.
While others were released by the hoodlums following negotiations, Sharibu is still being held captive because she allegedly refused to renounce her Christian faith.
According to Mrs Okei-Odumakin, “every further day Sharibu spends in captivity indicts the Nigerian government that had been unable to fulfill its promises.”
The group urged Nigerians to rededicate themselves anew to the worthy cause of working assiduously for Ms Sharibu’s release from Boko Haram captivity.
“I lend my voice to those of other freedom loving patriots across the globe to celebrate our darling Leah Sharibu as she turns 17.
“Leah defines courage as all that stands between her and personal liberty is the conviction of her courage,” she said
Mrs Okei-Odumakin said it was a sad commentary as supposedly conscionable Nigerians appearred to have abandoned Ms Sharibu and her family to their fate.
“This ought not to have been so. The struggle for Leah’s freedom should have been upbeat and not tepid.
“On this occasion of her birthday, we also demand more accountability from government on issues of child protection and friendliness.
“Leah Sharibu and the case of Chibok girls, who remain perpetually in captivity since 2014 give indications that Nigeria itself may have become a giant prison of a sort for her children.
“There shall be no relenting until freedom is won for Leah and all the others in one form of insidious captivity or another.
“We wait for our heroine day and night!,” She said
NAN
