The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom urged on Friday a group of Nigerian militants to release the 14-year-old Leah Sharibu, who has been held captive for four years now.
According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Sharibu was one of those abducted from the Northern Nigerian school, Government Girls Science and Technical School, by the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Sharibu, a part of the USCIRF's Religious Prisoner of Conscience Project, was the only one that remains in captivity because of her conviction to remain a Christian.
"On February 19, 2018, 14-year-old Leah Sharibu was kidnapped from her school in #Nigeria alongside 110 other girls. Despite #ISWAP releasing most of the girls, Leah has remained in captivity for refusing to abandon her Christian faith," the USCIRF said in Twitter
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Commissioner Tony Perkins called on ISWAP through a statement to "free" Sharibu so she can finally "live a life of dignity." Perkins similarly called on the American government to put "pressure" on the Nigerian government to act on Sharibu's release.
"Four years ago, Leah Sharibu was forcibly taken from her family and loved ones. ISWAP must free Leah Sharibu so she can reunite with her family, resume her education, and live a life of dignity of which she is most deserving. Her resolve in the face of the unimaginable should motivate us to do all that we can to help her and all other young women facing similar, dire circumstances," Perkins said.
"The United States should pressure the Nigerian government to secure the release of Leah Sharibu and other kidnapped girls and take proactive measures to make sure that no other generation is subjected to the same fate," he added.
The Government Girls Science and Technical School, located in Dapchi, Yobi State, was attacked by the ISWAP in 2018. During which, five of the 110 girls died. The ISWAP returned 104 of the girls a month after to their families. Sharibu refused to "comply with their demand to convert to Islam" that was why ISWAP did not return her to her parents.
Sharibu was reported to have received threats of being killed by the ISWAP if she persists to disregard their demands. The ISWAP have already killed one of the three humanitarian aid workers--Saifura Ahmed--they abducted after releasing the children in March. The workers have ties with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
The ISWAP said Sharibu and the remaining aids would soon meet the same fate. True enough, they killed Hauwa Mohammad Liman in October 2021. Alice Loksha is the only one kept alive with Sharibu, which the ISWAP said they would now keep as a "slave for life."
The USCIRF estimates more than a hundred individuals are detained by the ISWAP in northeast Nigeria. The department also await the United States Department of State to reinstate Nigeria in its "Country of Particular Concern" listing, which the latter removed in November. The USCIRF has released a fact sheet and a podcast to stress the importance of the re-designation.
"Authorities in Kano state, Nigeria, have perpetrated some of the most egregious religious freedom violations in the country," the USCIRF said in the fact sheet.
"In recent years, including in 2021, Kano authorities have arrested, charged, and/or convicted several individuals for blasphemy, prohibited broadcast stations from airing religious content, restricted religious poets and performers, and arrested and detained individuals from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) community based on its official interpretation and enforcement of Islamic law, or Shari'a," it highlighted.
