Nata Sharibu, whose daughter was kidnapped from her Nigerian school last month, wishes his daughter was home, but He is proud of her defiance towards her captors by refusing to denounce her faith.
"Boko Haram insurgents decided not to release my daughter because she refused to denounce Christ,” Sharibu told reporters today. “I am happy for that, even though as a father I wish she had returned home as the rest. But God is in control,” ABC News reported.
Monday, February 19, Boko Haram militants invaded a girl’s boarding school in northeastern Nigeria and kidnapped 110 girls. After making a deal with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, the militant group released at least 105 schoolgirls and 1 boy Wednesday, March 21. The one girl who was not released is a 15-year-old Christian who refused to convert to Islam.
“One girl, Liya, is still with them because she is a Christian,” said Khadija Grema, one of the abducted girls who was returned to her family on Wednesday, as reported by The PUNCH.
The PUNCH also reported on Greme’s eyewitness account:
“They fed us very well, they treated us very well. They did not beat us; they did not molest us," Grema said.
She also said that her experience in the hands of the insurgents was a sad one. The five girls are reported to have died from suffocation during the kidnapping.
ABC News reported, “One of the freed schoolgirls, Fatsuma Abdullahi, said five of her classmates at the Government Girls Science Technical College in Dapchi died while the kidnappers herded them into vehicles.”
“After reuniting with their families in Dapchi, the students were taken to a nearby general hospital where they received medical attention and psychosocial support, [President] Mohammed [Buhari] said.”
President Buhari released a statement that said, ‘’For the release to work, the government had a clear understanding that violence and confrontation would not be the way out as it could endanger the lives of the girls; hence, a non-violent approach was the preferred option,” The PUNCH reported.
Since this attack on Government Girls Science Technical College in Dapchi, two northeastern states, Yobe and Borno have closed every boarding school in fear of other kidnapping raids. The Arabic name, Boko Haram, means “Western education is forbidden.” As ChristianHeadlines.com reported yesterday, “Giving in to the group’s goals will only further incite them to continue their attacks and abductions.”
Read more on this story at ChristianHeadlines.com: "All Nigerian Schoolgirls Have Been Released Except the Only Christian."
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