We have not forgotten leah Sharibu — Osinbajo tells Mike Pence

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the Muhammadu Buhari administration had not forgotten Leah Sharibu, a schoolgirl still in the captivity of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents.

Osinbajo also said the government would continue to negotiate for her release and other
captives of the sect.

The vice president reportedly said this at a meeting he had with his American counterpart, Mike Pence, at the White House, Washington, D.C.
Miss Sharibu was one of the schoolgirls captured by the insurgents, alongside 111 other girls
and a schoolboy, on February 19, 2018, in Bursari Local Government Area of Yobe State, when
she was reportedly 14 years of age.

After weeks of negotiations between the government and the terrorists, they released 106
students on March 21, 2018.

Five of the remaining six girls were reported to have died while being taken to the sect’s
hideout.

The terrorists reportedly refused to release Miss Sharibu because she refused to renounce her
Christian faith and convert to Islam.
Global calls for her release have intensified in recent months.

On government’s efforts to secure the release of the schoolgirl, Osinbajo expressed the
commitment of the Buhari administration to continue to negotiate for her release and that of
the remaining abducted Chibok girls.

“Over 100 of the Chibok girls that were abducted even before President Buhari came into
government have been released under the Buhari administration.

“Most of the Chibok girls, 90 per cent of them were also Christians,” Osinbajo said.

Mr Pence, for his part, appreciated the efforts of the Nigerian government and offered US’s
support in ensuring the release of others still abducted.

“I appreciate the perspective on Leah Sharibu; I am aware of the sensitive nature of her plight,”
Pence said.

He also noted that most of the girls that were released in the Chibok abduction were Christians.
Osinbajo recalled how President Buhari was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists in 2014, noting
that it was the firm and often publicly stated view of the president that anyone who killed an
innocent person and then said “God is great” was either insane or simply did not understand
what he was saying.