Senate Demands More Efforts Freeing Leah Sharibu

• Condemns attacks in Zamfara

Damilola Oyedele in Abuja

The Senate thursday called on the federal government to intensify efforts to ensure that Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi schoolgirl still in the custody of Boko Haram, is freed.

It also called for the release of the remaining schoolgirls from Chibok who were kidnapped in 2014.

This is as Senator Bukar Abba (Yobe APC) disclosed that there are serious negotiations ongoing to ensure Sharibu is released and returned home.

“I want to reassure the distinguished Senate that very serious negotiations are going on and I believe not far from now, she would also be released Insha Allah, the last Dapchi and the remaining Chibok girls,” he said.
He said this in a reaction to a point of order raised by Senator Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba PDP), who called for her release.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, said it was necessary that Sharibu and others are not forgotten.

Sharibu who was kidnapped alongside the 105 schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe State, is allegedly being held for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. The other girls have been released.

The Senate yesterday also condemned the killings of at least 17 persons in some parts of Zamfara State.
This followed a point of order raised by Senator Kabiru Marafa (Zamfara APC) who called for the imposition of a state of emergency in the state to address the state of insecurity.

He lamented that the local authorities do not want the killings by bandits to be reported.
“We need to revisit the therapy of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, because if these Governors know they can be removed, their behaviour would be different,” Marafa said.

Adopting the prayers of his motion, the Senate condemned the killings and called for efforts to secure lives and properties in the state.
Meanwhile, the Senate has adjourned for Easter break, to resume plenary on April 10, 2018.

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