Prayer for Captives

For some Christians in Nigeria, and religious minorities in many other countries, the coronavirus pandemic is one more threat on top of the many others with which they have been living for years.

CSW receives news of attacks on villages in central Nigeria on an almost daily basis, with many killed or abducted for ransom by armed groups. Christian clergy and their family members are particularly targeted.

One prisoner among many: Leah Sharibu

One prisoner that we are focusing on in May is Leah Sharibu. On 14 May, Leah will turn 17, marking her birthday as a hostage of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an offshoot of the notorious Boko Haram terrorist group.

This will be Leah’s third birthday as an ISWAP hostage. She was one of 110 girls abducted from their school in Dapchi, north-east Nigeria, on 19 February 2018. The following month, after government negotiations, all of the surviving girls were put into trucks and returned home. However, Leah was not among them.

The sole Christian of the group, Leah was told she would be released only after she renounced her faith and converted to Islam. In an inspirational and powerful show of faith, she refused to do so. She was just 14 years old at the time.

In October 2018, the group declared that Leah and a fellow Christian hostage, nurse Alice Ngaddah, would be their slaves for life, after releasing videos of the executions of two of Mrs Ngaddah’s Muslim colleagues for alleged apostasy.

In January 2020, ISWAP released five abducted aid workers, one of whom told Nigerian media that she had met Alice whilst in captivity, and reported that both Leah and Alice are alive and well.

Faith and endurance

It is with this knowledge that CSW and many others continue to pray in faith for their immediate and unconditional release, and that of other hostages.

Earlier this year, Leah’s mother Rebecca Sharibu joined CSW and others to mark the second anniversary of her daughter’s abduction in prayer and protest outside the Nigerian High Commission in London.

While it is not possible to gather together as we usually do to mark Leah’s birthday due to the pandemic, CSW will be hosting an online prayer meeting in which we will be praying the words of Psalm 142:7 over Leah, Alice, the remaining Chibok girls and all those held hostage in Nigeria:

“Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.” (Psalm 142:7, NIV).

Highlighting Leah’s story this month is an opportunity to lift our eyes from our current situation and stand in prayer alongside those who are held captive in precarious situations.

Her case could also be highlighted as part of a sermon, during a time of prayer for the whole church or in small groups that may be meeting online midweek.

Prayer resources can be found here: https://www.csw.org.uk/prayforleah

Ellis Heasley

Public Affairs Officer, CSW

CSW is a Christian advocacy organisation specialising in the right to freedom of religion or belief worldwide.