Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has blasted Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu for describing Dapchi girl, Leah Sharibu as the “unfortunate Christian girl stolen by Boko Haram”.
The presidential aide had stated this during an online brawl with a former presidential aide, Reno Omokri.
In reaction to Shehu’s claim that security had improved under the Buhari presidency, Omokri vowed to give the presidential spokesman $20,000 if he could sleep in either of two Northern Nigerian towns overnight without security.
Reacting to the dare, Shehu said, “If this is the money from the collections made in the name of Leah Sharibu, the unfortunate Christian girl stolen by Boko Haram, I won’t touch it with a long (spoon). Please keep /your USD20000′.”
However, many Nigerians faulted the presidential spokesman for the reference to Leah Sharibu, saying he made light of the girl’s ordeal.
Weighing in, Fani-Kayode wrote, “In response to a legitimate & interesting challenge from my friend & brother @renoomokri, the former spokesman to @GEJonathan, @GarShehu, the spokesman for to @MBuhari, has described the great Leah Sharibu as the “unfortunate Christian girl stolen by Boko Haram”.
“As far as he is concerned Leah has no name but she is just an “unfortunate Christian girl”.
“The presidential spokesman is heartless, arrogant, insensitive & bigoted.
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“Would he have spoken like this about Leah if she was a Muslim? Why did feel the need to mention her faith?
“Does the fact that she is Christian make her a lesser Nigerian? Is she a chattel or a piece of property that can be described as being “stolen”? Is she not a human being too? Or is the fact that she is Christian or that she is a female make her less human?
“Nigerians deserve far better than this. The Christian community in Nigeria deserves far better too! This is an insult on every Christian & every right-thinking Nigerian. May God judge and punish Shehu Garba and those he represents for speaking in this way about Leah, who is one of the greatest Christian heroes that Nigeria has ever known and a deeply courageous soul who sacrificed her liberty (and possibly her life) by standing proudly for her faith and refusing to convert to Islam even at the point of a knife and gun.
“What we need in Nigeria are a few Samir Geagea’s, the leader of the old Lebanese Kataeb Regulatory Forces & Christian Falange (Uwait). If you want to know more about him & them & the role they played in fighting Islamic fundamentalism in the Lebanese civil war, google it or go to Lebanon and find out.
“To attempt to insult, demean or belittle a Christian hero like Leah simply because you do not share her faith is inexcusable and unforgivable. This is the turning point and we will never forget it.”