Jennifer Samuel, who was recently released from captivity by the dreaded Boko Haram sect, has said Leah Sharibu is alive, Vanguard newspaper (Nigeria) is reporting.
She also said another abductee, Grace Taku, is well and fine.
Leah was abducted alongside 109 other girls from their secondary school in Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018.
While most of the girls were released, Leah was denied freedom after refusing to renounce her Christian faith for Islam.
She has been in the custody of the terror group despite repeated pledges by President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian government to ensure her freedom.
Jennifer, an aid worker, was freed last week by the insurgents alongside four others. She was abducted on December 22, 2019 on her way to Jos, the capital of Plateau State, Nigeria.
Jennifer told journalists that while in captivity in the forest, she met one Alice, who confided in her that Leah and Grace were alive and fine. Alice was kidnapped two years ago by the sect.
“I actually met Alice that was abducted two years ago. All of them need our prayers earnestly. We need to stand and pray for them; it is only God that can do it.
“Alice is okay but she said she has accepted her fate since she has stayed there for two years and she said Grace and Leah are fine. I didn’t see Leah but Alice said she is okay. I only saw Alice.”
Jennifer narrated how she and others were treated and freed.
“They (abductors) were trying to prepare us in case they didn’t release us, we are going to be their slaves and there will be sexual involvements and all that but were to play with us psychologically, trying to tell us in the Koran that if you abduct someone to be your slave, you can have such privileges with the person.
“They were telling us that we were going, that God does not want us to stay there. At first, they were telling us to convert to Islam or be their slaves but later they can decide to release us because it is part of their rules and it is in the Koran. So they told us they are going to free us since God doesn’t want us to stay there.
“When the news came, it was up to five days before they released us. So we were just praying that God should intervene. Five of us were released, two females and two males. Others are still in captivity.”
