ICC Note: Following the release of Leah Sharibu’s video last week, her parents have spoken out about their newfound hope and joy after hearing Leah’s voice and discovering that she never renounced her faith in Christ. Her parents join her in voicing concern about Leah’s release and advocating for international involvement.

9/4/18 Nigeria (World Watch Monitor) The parents of the Nigerian girl, Leah Sharibu, held by Boko Haram, say they have renewed hope that she might safely return home after a short audio recording her kidnappers released last week.

In the 35 seconds-long recording, the Christian teenager asks for help for her family and herself, calling on Nigeria’s president to intervene and help facilitate her release. A photo shows her sitting on a pink patterned carpet in a hijab.

“When I heard her voice and saw the picture where she is sitting down with a hijab on, I began to cry,” her mother told World Watch Monitor in a phone call. “Oh God, see my little Leah, she has been forced to wear hijab, God please bring her back to me, I kept lamenting as I cried.”

“As a mother it has not been easy for me at all [but] this audio recording has brought hope to me and I believe that her freedom is on the way,” she said.

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