Nathan and Rebecca Sharibu, the parents of abducted schoolgirl Leah Sharibu, have joined a global campaign against conflict-related sexual violence, citing their daughter as an example of suffering endured by victims in terrorists’ captivity who refuse to renounce their faith.

The Sharibus spoke in a statement released by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, CSW, on Friday, as they joined Voices for Justice (V4J), a global collaborative community advocating for those targeted for their religious beliefs, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict by calling for justice for all of ‘Nigeria’s Leahs’.

“Leah was taken alongside 109 other girls. Most were eventually released, but our daughter was held back solely because she refused to renounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam. She stood firm in her belief, choosing to remain true to Christ even at the cost of her freedom,” the Sharibus said.

“For this courage, she has endured unimaginable hardship in the wilderness. Reports from those who escaped speak of forced marriage, repeated trauma, childbirth in captivity, and the constant shadow of sexual violence used as a weapon of war and control,” they added.

The Sharibus expressed their ordeal since their daughter was held captive by terrorists because she refused to renounce her faith, expressing hope she would be brought back home someday.

“As her parents, every day without Leah is a wound that deepens. We miss her and her dreams of a better future. Birthdays pass in silence, milestones are stolen, and our family lives with a pain no words can fully capture. Yet we hold onto our faith. We believe, as we have always told Leah and the world, that God who sees the oppressed will bring her home,” they said. 

Ms Leah Sharibu was abducted alongside others from the Government Girls Science and Technical School in Dapchi, Yobe State, when she was just 14 years old in February 2018. Eight years later, she is still being held as a ‘slave for life’ by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), after refusing to renounce her Christian faith as a precondition for release.

Roshini Wickremesinhe, executive director of the coordinating organisation Religious Liberty Partnership, said, “Leah Sharibu’s prolonged captivity lays bare the severe violence and systemic intimidation facing Christian and other minority girls and women across northern and central Nigeria.”

The CSW-Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Reverend Yunusa Nmadu, said ‘CSW is deeply inspired by the continued hope and faith of Nathan and Rebecca Sharibu. 

“We will stand with them in prayer, solidarity and continued advocacy until Leah is free and all those who have subjected her and her family to these eight years of unimaginable trauma have been held to account.”