Since the earliest days of the Boko Haram insurgency, Christian women and children have been targeted by militant extremist groups, including the Boko Haram splinter, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) Fulani militants and other groups referred to by locals as ‘bandits’.
Some captives manage to escape, are rescued in raids by government troops or are released in exchange for ransom, which can come at a heavy cost to victims’ families. Unfortunately, some victims die while being held captive or are held for many years. Parents of victims may never receive any news from the government regarding the status of negotiations to free their loved ones.
In other situations, however, some women return home after years of being imprisoned and they are neglected and seen as shameful in their communities. Often this happens when the woman has given birth to a child of her captors.
Regardless of how the situation plays out, it’s a horrible reality that many Christians live through. Below are some stories of girls who are currently living in captivity, it’s important to learn their names and lives, be praying for them and the rest of your brothers and sisters captive in Nigeria right now.
Leah Sharibu:
Leah Sharibu turned 19 on May 14, 2022. It will have been her 5th birthday spent in captivity. She was kidnapped by the ISWAP faction of Boko Haram along with 109 other students from her secondary school in Dapchi on February 19, 2018. As the only Christian, she was not released because she refused to deny her faith in Jesus.
Alice Ngaddah:
Alice Loksha Ngaddah is married and the mother of two, a boy aged 9 and a girl aged 4. She is a nurse who was working for the United Nations when she was taken by the ISWAP faction of Boko Haram on March 1, 2018. She was taken along with Hauwa Mohammed Leman, Saifure Hussaini and Ahmed Khorsa while working in Rann, a town that serves as a home for refugees and a point of previous militant attacks. On September 16, 2021, the group announced they had killed Saifura Hussaini and Ahmed Khorsa. They also executed Hauwa Leman.
ISWAP has declared that both Alice and Leah will remain slaves for life.
Chibok girls
April 14, 2022, marked 8 years since Boko Haram stormed the Chibok Girls’ State Secondary School where 275 girls had gathered to take an exam. Pretending to be government security who came to protect them, the attackers coaxed 230 of those girls onto trucks and made off with them towards the Sambisa Forest. 47 escaped before, during and shortly after the attack. It was more than two years before more girls made it to freedom. Today, around 111 of those girls remain unaccounted for.
These girls are just some of the thousands being held captive and abused on a daily bases, simply because they know and love Jesus. Join us and take the prayer pledge this month, as Open Doors is placing a focus on praying for Christian Captives, through our One With Them page.
Please pray
Please be praying for these girls, that they know God is with them and has never left their side. Pray for their release from captivity, and they one day they will be welcomed back into their homes. Lift these girls up to God.