The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and some pressure and advocacy groups which include the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum; the BringBackOurGirls Coalition; the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, CDHR, chide President Muhammadu Buhari for the failure to rescue Leah Sharibu after over 200 days in the captivity of Boko Haram.
The stakeholders in the Nigerian project protested that it is tragic that the Federal Government had failed to rescue Leah after about seven months of abduction by the Boko Haram.
The PDP added voice to the protest, telling President Buhari to listen to Nigerians, play the role of a father and make effort to secure to rescue Leah from captivity.
PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, appealed to on Nigerians to pray for the “innocent” girl in captivity.
“We appeal to President Buhari and his security agencies to please listen to the cry of this little girl. Nigerians were moved to tears recently after listening to her plea via a voice message she sent from the den of her abductors.
“It was a cry of innocence. This is somebody whose offence was just that she went to school. She didn’t want to die as an illiterate. Must we allow her to be punished for this? My answer is no.
“The primary duty of any government is to provide security for the citizens. That is the little we expect from this government. The President ought to be a father to all the citizens, including Leah. Let him act so by negotiating and freeing this our daughter,” Secondus declared.
Secondus stated that the government should consider the plight of Sharibu’s parents and also listen to the girl’s plea, which was released to the public some days ago.
He lamented that it was unfortunate that since the time Boko Haram released other girls abducted alongside the Christian teenager, nothing concrete had been done by the Federal Government to free her.
The PDP chairman, accordingly, requested Nigerians to beg Buhari to as a matter of urgency, get Boko Haram release Leah.
Sharibu is among the 110 girls kidnapped on February 19, 2018 by Boko Haram terrorists at the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State.
Over 100 of the girls were released by Boko Haram but Leah Shuaibu was said to be held back because she refused to renounce her Christian faith.
In a video believed to have been released by Boko Haram a few weeks ago, the teenager appealed to President Buhari to secure her release.