Leah Sharibu’s Mother Sues FG, Demands N500m Damages

Mrs Rebecca Sharibu, the mother of Leah Sharibu, has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Lagos, against the federal government requesting N500m damages for failing to secure her daughter.

Leah is the only girl still in captivity out of the 119 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe state, abducted by Boko Haram in February for “refusing to renounce her faith”.

A copy of the suit dated September 19, 2018, with no FCH/L/cs/1528/18, was made available to journalists on Tuesday.

Among the prayers the plaintiff sought from the court is an order “directing and mandating the defendants to secure the immediate and unconditional release of the plaintiff from the custody of her captors forthwith”.

“An order compelling the defendants to employ every means in securing the plaintiff from the custody of her captors; an order compelling the defendants to pay the plaintiff the sum of N500 million being compensation for the indignities and human deprivations suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the defendants’ dereliction of statutory duties in securing her release from her captors since the month of February, 2018 till date of this action”, the suit also stated.

In the past seven months, Leah’s abduction has stirred up several reactions in the country as her father Nathaniel Sharibu in an interview with Voice of America (VOA) disclosed that no government official has reached out to the family since the incident occurred.