We’ve not lost hope in Leah Sharibu, other remaining Chibok girls’ rescue — FG

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its determination to secure the freedom of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls and Leah Sharibu, saying the victims have not been abandoned despite the many years since their abduction.

Two hundred and seventy-six schoolgirls were taken from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram on April 14, 2014. Eleven years on, 87 of them are still believed to be held captive.

Likewise, Leah Sharibu was one of the 110 students abducted by Islamic State West Africa Province insurgents from the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018. She remains in captivity, unlike the others who were released, as she was the only Christian among them.

Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja during a multi-agency anti-kidnapping meeting organised in collaboration with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency, the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Major General Adamu Laka, stated that efforts to rescue the remaining girls have continued over the years.

He said, “Since when they were kidnapped, those who were rescued were not just rescued one time; It was a gradual process. Negotiations were done, trying to get them out. Operations were conducted.

“Luckily, at the beginning of that, towards the year after they were kidnapped, I was in the theatre, and I know what the military and intelligence agencies put into rescuing the initial set of the Chibok girls.

“We haven’t given up hope on them; some of them were married to some of the insurgents. Some have come out. But let our focus not only be on the Chibok girls. There are others who have been kidnapped aid workers, Nigerian aid workers who were kidnapped. We’ve rescued some that are working for UNICEF.”

Laka stressed that the absence of media reports on the matter does not suggest a lack of action or concern by the government.

He said, “We’ve rescued some that are working for UNHCR and IOM and so on. Do you understand? So, we haven’t relented on our efforts.

“There is the issue of this lady, Leah Shaibu. So, not because it’s not always in the press.

“We are not always talking about it. It doesn’t mean we don’t care. It doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about them. We are still on it. Our prayer is that the whole 87 or 80 plus that are left will be rescued by God’s grace.”

Laka also shared updates on the Multi-Agency Anti-Kidnap Fusion Cell, which is based at the National Counterterrorism Centre and was launched by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on December 19, 2024.

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He explained that the cell has been instrumental in bringing together intelligence and coordinating responses across security agencies to combat kidnapping nationwide.

To further enhance this effort, the centre has initiated a decentralised approach by deploying anti-kidnap liaison officers from the Nigeria Police Force and Department of State Services to every state and the Federal Capital Territory.

“The primary purpose of the programme is to close the gap between national-level coordination and state-level response,” he said, adding that the initiative is intended to strengthen the connection between field operations and strategic national planning through timely intelligence and local insights.

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