#NigeriaAt59: NANS demands freedom for Leah Sharibu

The leadership of National Association of Nigerian Students(NANS) on Wednesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari and security agencies to secure freedom for Leah Sharibu, a Dapchi schoolgirl, from the Boko Haram captivity.

NANS also used the occasion of the 59th independence anniversary celebration to urge President Buhari to ban medical tourism abroad while making efforts to fix the medical sector in Nigeria.

National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Comrade Azeez Adeyemi, in a statement in Abuja and made available to newsmen, insisted the celebration of Nigeria’s freedom from colonial administration would make more meaning with the freedom of the young Leah Sharibu.

Leah Sharibu, a student of Government Girls Science and Technical Secondary School in Dapchi, Yobe State, was kidnapped last year by Boko Haram terrorists.

She was abducted by terrorists, alongside 111 other girls and another schoolboy, on February 19, 2018, in Bursari local government area of Yobe state.

The abduction led to widespread outrage as it was reminiscent of a similar abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno in 2014.

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However, after weeks of negotiations with the Federal government, the terrorists released 107 of the 113 originally abducted on March 21, 2018.

According to reports, while five of the remaining six girls were reported to have died while being transported to Boko Haram’s hideout, Sharibu was kept by the militants because of her refusal to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam.

But Adeyemi in the statement said: “We appeal to the President to intensify efforts in setting Leah Sharubu and other kidnapped victims free from the net of the dreaded Boko Haram and criminals.”

The student body, NANS, however, applauded the Federal government of Nigeria in its efforts to make Nigeria a self-reliance nation.

“We appeal that a step should be taken further by ensuring that all our top government functionaries including the President are banned by law from foreign medical tourism and should be treated here in Nigeria no matter the nature of their ailment so as to improve the standard of our medical facilities in the country,” NANS said.

On allegations against Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo(SAN), the leadership of NANS described those behind the allegations as real enemies of Nigeria.

Adeyemi noted that Osinbajo has been the strong pillar of the current administration of President Buhari, adding that the unseen forces against the Vice-President do not want to government to succeed.

“The unseen forces who tried to test the stance of God in the life of the anointed have met God firmly behind him. May use this opportunity to express our loyalty to the Vice-President as he is clearly a major standing factor for which many are still respecting this government.

“For his giant strides especially at the times when the President is out of the country, we pass our vote of confidence on his Excellency, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and we remain firm with him against any odd.

“In Ogun State, we must appreciate the giant strides of the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun in procuring 100 patrol vans and 200 motorcycles for the security of the state with a view of achieving a crime-free state under his watch,” Adeyemi said.