Leah Sharibu, one of the Dapchi girls abducted by Boko Haram in Yobe state and the only one of the girls not returned, allegedly attempted an escape from the Boko Haram camp but was promptly returned to the camp by a family they asked for help.
Leah was held back when the rest of the girls, bar the five who died, were returned to their families. This was due to her refusal to renounce her Christian faith which the Boko Haram fighters apparently found abhorrent.
According to one of the girls who came back, Leah had attempted to escape the camp with two other girls, unfortunately, she walked into the hands of the wrong person.
While escaping the camp, the girls encountered a family who they asked for help to escape the insurgents, but rather than providing assistance, the family instead returned them to the Boko Haram camp.
“We thought she was just going round the corner, but she sneaked out along with Maryam and Amira (the other two classmates),” the girl, Aisha Ibiwa said.
Hajara Adamu, another of Leah’s friends, said: “The Fulani man (from the family) said to them, ‘so you are the missing girls that we’ve heard about on the radio.’ He gave them a jerrycan filled with cow’s milk and brought them back.”
“Leah and her group weren’t flogged. They [Boko Haram] said it was because they had suffered a lot while trying to escape.”
The girls also narrated how their captors mocked them on several occasions also encouraging them not to go back to Nigeria, but instead bring their parents back to the Islamic caliphate.
‘You shouldn’t go back to Nigeria. It’s a country of sinners and unbelievers. When you go back, convince your parents to come back here to the Islamic caliphate with you.’ one of the girls narrated.