Contrary to claims that Leah Sharibu has been freed from Boko Haram captivity and is being kept somewhere in Jos, the Plateau State capital, the teenager is still in the den of her captors, according to a friend of her mother and senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Jos, Dr Gloria Samdi Puldu.
Sharibu was one of the 110 female students of the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, who was abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on February 19, 2018.
While others were released later, Sharibu has been detained on account of her Christian faith.
There were rumours on Thursday in the social media that her abductors had released her and she was being kept at the headquarters of the Evangelical Church Winning All in Jos.
But speaking with our correspondent on Friday, Puldu said there was no truth in the claims.
“Just forget about them (the rumours), they are not true, there is nothing like that; ignore them, they’re all rumours, that is all. I think the speculation came into effect because of the assurances given by President Muhammadu Buhari after he spoke with her mother that Leah Sharibu would be released soon. We should just keep praying that it becomes true; that is all,” she stated.
This came just as the Executive Secretary, Nigeria National Missions Movement, Revd. Gideon Para-Mallam, who has been one of the vocal voices championing the girl’s release, also described the report on the social media as false.
Para-Mallam, in a statement, described as “wild and misleading” the reports that Leah Sharibu had been released.
He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, I hereby wish to categorically state that Leah Sharibu has not yet been released. Our consistent hope and prayer is that she should be released as soon as possible.
“I’m issuing this statement as a very close friend of the Sharibus who has been and is still in very close contact with them, that as of this morning (8am, Friday, October 5, 2018), these wild and misleading reports about her release are false and should be disregarded.”
