Leah Sharibu’s ‘Proof Of Life’ Tape: Family Confirms Voice, US Law Group Pledges Support
The Oasis Reporters
August 28, 2018
The world just heard her speak on aufio tape.
The Cable published an audio tape proving that the Dapchi Christian school girl, Leah Sharibu who is still in the Islamist insurgents, Boko Haram captivity is alive.
The audio comes a week after she clocked a half-year in Boko Haram captivity following the February 19 mass abduction of school girls in Dapchi, To be State, Nigeria.
A US – Nigeria Law Group contacted the Sharibu family to authenticate the purported message from Leah and it has been conclusively established as her voice.
“A forensic evaluation of the message indicates the following:
Leah was strong, calm and articulate. Apart from two brief pauses, the message was unemotional, mature and stable.
Leah did not concede capitulation to Islam or condemn her family as has been seen in other Boko Haram proof of life videos for the Chibok girls.
Leah was depicted in a hijab which we believe she was forced to wear. Our earlier investigation into the Dapchi mass abduction revealed that Leah was first noticed as a Christian after she refused to wear a hijab. This is a routine practice of Boko Haram which they also did during the Chibok abductions 4 years ago”, said a statement issued by Emma Ogebe who heads the Law firm in Washington DC, USA.
Leah’s message did not dwell on her own misery or suffering. Rather she made time out to appeal for care and support to her family. This is indicative of a well grounded individual who is more concerned of her family than for herself.
Leah called upon the president to intervene indicating this was the key demand the terrorists wanted conveyed.
The terrorists appear to have allowed Leah to speak extempore and not from a script. Ordinarily, they would not have asked her to include a plea for support to her family. Clearly she inserted this on her own. In some prior Chibok tapes, the girls were interviewed Q&A style but not in this case.
Leah continues to be an epitome of virtue. In this tape she ends it by adding her thanks to the listeners.
TRANSCRIPT OF LEAH’S REMARKS
“I am the one named Leah Sharibu that was abducted in (Government Girls Science Secondary Technical College) GGSSTC Dapchi. I am calling on the government and the world to help get me out of my current situation, and to help my mother, my father, my younger brother and relatives. Kindly help me out of my predicament. I am begging you to treat me with compassion, I am calling on the government, particularly, the president to pity me and get me out of this serious situation. I thank you.”
Leah’s mother was said to have been devastated by the image of her daughter in a hijab and burst into tears. However Leah’s younger brother who helped open the news report for her was on hand to console her.
A statement by the US Nigeria Law Group says:
“We are happy to report that prior to Leah’s message, we had already initiated steps in tandem with her recently expressed wishes. USNLG working with key stakeholders had facilitated the relocation and scholarship for Leah’s younger brother.
Following her message, USNLG pledges to support Leah Sharibu and her family with $3 a day for each day of her captivity in addition to what we have already provided till the end of this year or her release whichever comes first.
We enjoin all people of goodwill to similarly respond to this 15 year old heroine’s cry by pledging a donation for each of the days of her captivity.
We ask the government to brief the Sharibu family on the status of their daughter’s rescue. It is a travesty that the only information the family has received in her six month captivity is from Boko Haram via an online medium. No Government official has interfaced with the family.
We appeal to the Mr Sharibu’s bosses to give the father excuse duty to be with his family.
We ask the FGN to investigate recent revelations that the there was a scam perpetrated in the Dapchi “ransom” payment which has been a source of controversy between the United Nations and the Federal Government of Nigeria as well.
We ask that deposed DG Lawal Daura be interrogated on his role in the mentioned scam.
We are concerned that unlike prior proofs of life, there is none in this case. Rather it is an audio and does not depict her captors. This is quite unlike prior Boko Haram modus operandi and lends credence to conspiracy theories about the abduction.
We urge the Federal Government to demand a video proof with date stamp as the audio recording date cannot be verified
We note that the release of the second batch of 82 Chibok girls was delayed partly due to the shortchanging of Boko Haram’s ransom payment and other breaches during the swap of the first batch of 21. Accordingly, the Federal government, (FGN) is urged to honorably ensure that it fulfills conditions for the release of Leah to show that the lives of Christians too matter like those of the Muslim girls released.
We urge CAN to ensure churches play the voice recording of Leah across the nation this Sunday and for prayers to be said for her.
EMMANUEL OGEBE
US NIGERIA LAW GROUP”
