Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a breakaway faction of Boko Haram terrorists, had offered to release heroic Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu for a ransom, international human rights lawyer, Emmanuel Ogebe, has disclosed.
Speaking from Mexico on the 8th anniversary of her abduction, the renowned DC-based religious freedom advocate and leader of US-Nigeria Law Group, said that after hostage negotiators established contact with the terrorists through a network of global jihadi intermediaries, a face-to-face meeting was brokered between an anti-human trafficking NGO and top terror leaders.
“Unfortunately the ransom amount was too excessive for the NGO and the talks to secure her release subsequently failed.
“The amount requested by Boko Haram for Leah’s ransom was almost triple the amount paid by the Nigerian government for the 102 Chibok girls whose ransomed were reported to be €3 million,” he said.
Ogebe further disclosed that the terrorists involved in the original negotiations have since died and the likehood for further negotiations slim, unless her current captors establish communication.
“My understanding is that of course, the NGO concerned did not have such an amount to pay for Leah’s freedom, but more importantly, did not want to fund the terrorists to unleash even more weapons and death on others.
“However, my sources believe that the terrorists asked for such a huge amount then not to buy arms, but because they were considering abandoning terrorism and fleeing with the money to take care of themselves well abroad.
“They did not trust the government’s amnesty program because they said some government officials sponsored them, so if they surrendered, they would be eliminated to protect their secret.
“Incidentally, all three Boko Haram leaders involved in the negotiations for Leah have since died.
“If their demands had been more reasonable, maybe Leah would’ve been their salvation and their ticket out alive.
“On the other hand, Leah is like the Ark of God in their camp. Anyone who touches her wrongly will die. Her second husband has been killed also.
“You don’t trouble God’s hand maiden because God will trouble you.
“When Pharaoh took Sarah Abraham’s wife to his palace, God troubled the whole kingdom of Egypt until she was freed. How much more his precious daughter Leah, who put her trust in him?
“When you hear even Trump speaking out on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, you know that this is beyond human imagination.
“The U.S. forces mobilized for Nigeria now are more than those mobilized by Obama after the 276 Chibok girls abduction.
“God is not sleeping, nor is He mocked.
“Boko Haram may have gained temporary battleground advantage with the dislocation of two U.S. bases from Niger, but the current U.S. response is good reason for them to reconsider a truce to end 22 years of senseless and pointless bloodshed.
“Nigeria is not Syria. Their fellow wanted designated global terrorist is now President there, only after he abandoned his terrorist ways.
“Boko Haram’s pathway to peace is tied to the release of Leah.”
According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), ” Leah Sharibu is in EPC captivity for refusing to renounce her faith.
“On February 19th, 2018, the Islamic State – West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the Government Girls Science and Technical School in Dapchi, Yobe State, Nigeria.
“They abducted 110 school girls, including Sharibu.
While 104 girls were returned to their families and five were reportedly killed, ISWAP kept Sharibu, reportedly because she refused to comply with their demands and convert to Islam.
ISWAP threatened to kill Sharibu if their demands were not met or keep her as a “slave for life.”
