Jubilations in Dapchi as IG Confirms Expected Release of Leah Sharibu

Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri

The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris said the federal government has brokered an agreement for the release of Leah Sharibu, the lone Dapchi schoolgirl still held by Boko Haram.

It was reported that the insurgents held on to Leah Sharibu for the reason of her faith, Christianity and her insistence not to convert to Islam.

The IGP said yesterday evening that Leah was on her way to Dapchi following her release by her captors.

The IGP who paid a courtesy visit Saturday to the Theatre Commander of operation Lafiya Dole, Maj Gen Rogers Nicholas at the Command and control Centre of the Theatre Command in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, said he had earlier planned to visit Dapchi as part of his on the spot assessment of deployment of Personnel to schools in the Northeast, but cut off the visit to soften the ground on hearing that the schoolgirl was on her way back to Dapchi.

He appreciated the Theatre Commander and his officers for their loyalty to the nation as well as their effort at fighting the war against insurgency to a logical end.

“I was to be in Dapchi as part of my on the spot assessment tour of deployment of personnel to schools around the Northeast for enhanced security,” Idris said.

He informed the Theatre Commander of the Explosive ordinance training Schools under construction for the training of personnel on demining of landmines and other explosives that might have been planted by the Boko Haram terrorists previously before liberation of various Communities.

He added that the police mobile training school in Gwoza which was destroyed by the Boko Haram terrorists is undergoing rehabilitation to become one of the best training schools in Africa and the world.

In his response, the Theater Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj Gen Rogers Nicholas thanked IGP for finding time to visit the Theatre Command.

He said the Explosive Ordinance Device (EOD) training school when completed will be of use to the Nigerian Military who might be the first beneficiaries of the Institution.

“We will be working as a team, synergise and respect one another for effective service to the people and Nigeria at large. I appreciate you for the steps you have taken to reposition the Nigeria police since your assumption of duty,” Maj Gen Nicholas said.

However, when THISDAY called the Secretary of Association of Parents of Dapchi missing schoolgirls, Kachalla Bukar around 10 pm yesterday, he said Leah was yet to be brought to them. He said: “I cannot rule out that she might be on her way as it took the other girls three days to travel from their captivity back to Dapchi. We are expecting the same experience with the last girl. We pray she gets here soon enough”.