Jennifer Ukambong, an aid worker from Plateau State, who was released on Thursday after nearly one month in Boko Haram captivity, has confirmed that Leah Sharibu is still alive and somewhere close to Lake Chad.
The 22-year-old nurse said this when she returned to Jos on Saturday amidst celebration by her parents, friends and fellow nurses who gathered at her residence in Bukuru area of the city.
Ukambong said Leah and other abductees, including Mrs Alice Ngaddah and Miss Grace Taku were “doing fine in the forest.”
Ngaddah, a United Nations Children’s Fund medical worker, was abducted in 2018 by Boko Haram in Rann community in Borno State.
She said, “They ( Boko Haram) told us it was against the Qur’an to forcefully touch a woman not legally married to you.
“They, however, tried to prepare our minds to expect such should they decide to keep us as slaves.
“According to them, the Qur’an gives them the right to such privileges when they take a hostage as slave.”
Ukambong who said she went to Ngaddah’s house twice in the forest insisted that both she and Leah were not dead.
She told us to pray for her and the other two, that she has left everything to God, Ukambong said.
She added that Alice’s name had been changed to Halima by the terrorists.
Leah was the only Christian among the 110 Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapped from Yobe State by Boko Haram on February 19, 2018.
While the rest were later released, she was held back due to her Christian faith.
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