Originally published in The Christian Post
The Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has executed a second humanitarian worker and vowed that Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu will be a slave for life.
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The Islamic State West Africa Province, as the group is officially called, a testament to its ties to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, sent a video to Nigerian website The Cable on Monday, reportedly showing the execution of Hauwa Leman, an aid worker with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
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The publication describes the murder: “Leman was forced to kneel down, with her hands tied inside a white hijab which has a crest symbol, and then shot at close range.”
Leman is the second Red Cross hostage killed by the terrorists, following the execution of Saifura Ahmed back in September.
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The video declares that Sharibu, the 15-year-old Christian schoolgirl who was kidnapped in February and continues to be held because she refuses to convert to Islam, is still alive, but will be a “slave for life.”
Another Christian woman, Alice Ngaddah, who works with UNICEF and was also captured by Boko Haram, will meet the same fate, the radicals added.
“Based on our doctrines, it is now lawful for us to do whatever we want to do with them,” the group said of what it plans for the two Christians.
Nothing can justify killing innocent people
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that the latest killing is “dastardly, inhuman and ungodly,” and that “nothing can justify the shedding of the blood of innocent people.”
Mohammed insisted that the Nigerian government is keeping lines of communication open with the abductors, as reported by CNN.
“It is very unfortunate that it has come to this,” Mohammed said.
“Before and after the deadline issued by her abductors, the federal government did everything any responsible government should do to save the aid worker,” he added, referring to warnings Boko Haram issued last month that it would kill more hostages.
Aleksandra Matijevic Mosimann, ICRC spokeswoman in Nigeria, said that if confirmed, Leman’s death “would be a devastating blow. For the family, Hauwa’s friends and colleagues as well as for all the health care workers working in northeast Nigeria.”
Call for urgent action
Several persecution watchdog groups have called for urgent action to save Sharibu.
“Now we watch in horror as she, and the other women and girls with her, are led before the jihadist firing squads — or worse,” said Founding Coalition member and Save the Persecuted Christians Director Dede Laugesen, in a statement shared with The Christian Post last week.
“Does the world even know? Do they care? Where is the outcry for Saifura? For Leah? For all the other women and girls with them? As American Christians, we can no longer turn a blind eye to what is happening worldwide to our brothers and sisters,” Laugesen added.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas added of Liman’s apparent execution:
“We condemn this cowardly execution in the strongest terms. It is senseless, inhumane and cannot be justified on any grounds, let alone religious ones. Liman merely sought to improve the lives of vulnerable female IDPs, yet her life, like Saifura Ahmed’s, was cut short by what is in reality a death cult. It is deeply disturbing that Leah Sharibu and Alice Ngaddah remain in the hands of this profoundly nefarious sect.”
Thomas continued: “We appeal to the government of Nigeria once again to do everything in its power to expedite the release of Ngaddah, Sharibu and the 112 remaining Chibok girls, and to ensure the armed forces are fully equipped to address this insurgency. We also urge the Church worldwide to continue in earnest prayer until all of Boko Haram’s captives are set free.”
