Boko Haram threatens to kill more hostages

Boko Haram threatens to kill more hostages

DAPCHI, Nigeria — A schoolgirl abducted by Boko Haram urged the government to secure her release in an audio recording sent to local media by her captors.

Leah Sharibu, a 16-year-old Christian, was kidnapped Feb. 19 along with more than 100 other girls. The other girls were released in March but Sharibu was not released because she refused to convert to Islam, according to local sources. Sharibu’s father told Morningstar News that no one from the government has called his family since her abduction in February. He said Christians around the world have been supporting and praying for the family.

Fears for Sharibu have increased since Boko Haram killed a female aid worker, Saifura Khorsa, who was taken captive along with two other aid workers in March while serving with the International Committee of the Red Cross at a clinic for internally displaced people in a village outside Maiduguri. Boko Haram has threatened to kill all the hostages.

The Nigerian and international Christian communities have called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to negotiate the release of the captives. Buhari claims that he and his administration have defeated Boko Haram in Nigeria, though abductions and attacks continue throughout northeastern Nigeria, according to news sources.

Nigeria ranks as the 14th worst nation in the world when it comes to persecution of Christians, according to Open Doors’ 2018 World Watch List. (TAB)