Liya Sharubu: The Dapchi Girl Not Released

by Deji Yesufu

At 7:45am on the 21st of March 2018, a Wednesday, strange vehicles drove into a Northern town called Dapchi, in Yobe State, Nigeria. Dapchi had recently come into global reckoning due to the abduction of 110 girls from the town by members of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram, operating in the north eastern parts of Nigeria.

The vehicles that came into Dapchi this Wednesday morning had 105 of the abducted girls and one boy. The girls reported that a number of them had died, while they were being taken away to the terrorists hide out. One of the returned girls, Khadijat Grema, told journalists that a certain Liya Sharubu was the only one of the girls that had not been returned.

Grema says that Liya Sharubu had refused to put on the hijab that the terrorists had insisted for all the girls to wear. She had also adamantly refused to profess the Muslim faith as her abductors were pressing upon her to do. The terrorists had warned Liya that the consequences of refusing to profess Islam would be that she would not be returned with others to her home.

In spite of this threat, Liya stood her grounds. When Liya’s mother was informed of her daughter’s defiant behavior in the terrorists’ camp, it is reported that she fainted.

This article today is dedicated to the bravery and faith of the 106th Dapchi girl: Liya Sharubu.

I grew up in northern Nigeria. The first religious crisis I witnessed in Zaria, where we lived, was in 1987. I witnessed religious crisis that left churches that we attended burnt to the ground, I saw people displaced from their homes and I heard of many people who paid the ultimate price for their faith in Christ.

For this reason, I understood that there was a depth of Christianity that Christians in northern Nigeria professed that was uncommon to those in southern Nigeria where there was little or not threat to their profession of religion.

However, in spite of witnessing crisis in northern Nigeria and even coming to faith in Christ in that part of the country, I am still not sure that I would not have denied Christ if I ever was confronted with an option that called me to deny Christ for my freedom while I lived in the north. This thought is what leads me to appreciate more the faith that Liya’s is displaying at the moment in the den of one of the world’s most dreaded terrorist groups.

Many questions come to my mind over why Liya would not momentarily profess Islam to at least get out of these terrorists’ den and gain her freedom and then return to practising her faith. Who taught Liya the kind of Christian faith that she practices – a faith that is clearly not nominal, a faith that can stand the heat of threat to life?

What does Liya believe about Jesus that will not even make her deny her Master for a few moment? Does this sort of faith still exist in Nigeria today?

While a whole lot of reactions have followed the release of the Dapchi 105, very few people are talking about this lone girl that has stood her ground in the midst of a daunting challenge. Very few commentaries are being made on her courage. Clearly, some people would regard her as a fool for not taking advantage of an offer because of a certain fanatical stance.

Regardless of what people may say and regardless of what happens to Liya, I wish to state here that Liya Sharubu has become a hero to me.

As we celebrate the return of the Dapchi girls, let the Christian churches remember that there is a Christian girl in the den of lions. Let us pray to our God, the same God who saved Daniel from the den of hungry lions, to save Liya. Let us pray the God of heaven to strengthen her faith further in Christ by the Holy Spirit; that she would not relent in her profession of the living Christ. And let us pray that her witness to Jesus Christ, will come as a testimony to the terrorists holding her and that by God’s mercies, these men may consider the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as their God also.

May Liya be saved.

May the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be praised.

May God deliver our nation Nigeria from terrorism.

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/liya-sharubu-the-dapchi-girl-not-released/

CC: Seun, Lalasticlala

Other thoughts on the Dapchi Girls:

Random Thoughts on the Dapchi Girls’ Release

by Deji Yesufu

This Sunday, in “The Evangel”, my column with www.mouthpiece.com.ng, I shall be extolling the faith of Liya Shaburu, the Christian girl that was not released along with the other girls this past Wednesday by the dreaded Boko Haram terrorists group. I pray that the government’s promise to ensure she gains her freedom is kept.

Having said that, I must say that the commentaries that I am reading about the Dapchi girls’ release is quite unbelievable; to say the least, it is shocking. It seem to me that many people cannot separate their hatred for Muhammadu Buhari from issues that concern our national good. It is unfortunate that persons like the discredited Femi Fani Kayode and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will use such a time like this to score cheap political points.

Regardless of how this situation is interpreted, even the most naive person will conclude that the Buhari administration has handled the Dapchi situation better than Jonathan did with Chibok. If the release of these girls reveals further the ineptitude and irresponsible nature of the former government, people should have the decency of either admitting such a fact or keeping their mouths shut.

So, let us all agree that our girls, everyone of them (except for Liya) are back. Let us rejoice in this fact and let us trace the way forward.

For me, the way forward is to ask ourselves as a nation: how do we forestall a reoccurrence? There are hundreds of communities in Yobe and Borno states that can easily be ransacked by insurgents and whose young people, particularly girls, can be carted away. The debate should focus on how we can get the militrary to provide more security to these communities. Prevention is indeed better than cure.

The second thing we should be considering is this: how much more funding does the Nigerian government wish to continue to provide insurgents through these sorts of forced blackmail that they enact through kidnap cases and so on? If it is true that the Nigerian government gave Boko Haram $20M to secure the release of these young ladies, has anyone thought of what such an amount will do for these insurgents and their works? Each dollar given to them gives their organization greater strength.

If we can forestall reoccurrence of this sort of situation, then our military can focus on the business of finally routing these animals from the shores of our land and this country can return to peace, prosperity and progress again.

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