The family of captive Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu, the sole remaining hostage of the Dapchi mass abduction, has been thrown into mourning following yet another tragic development — the loss of her great uncle even while she remains in Boko Haram custody. “The brother of Leah’s grandmother died suddenly and was buried this week in a tragedy reminiscent of the Chibok saga when some schoolgirls returned from captivity to find over two dozen parents and relatives had died during their captivity,” said human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe.

According to the US-based Ogebe, who is well known for his charity work for Boko Haram victims, “Leah’s grandmother, who had been in Dapchi consoling her daughter on Leah’s abduction, herself had to leave for Maiduguri for the burial of her late brother. Also in attendance at the funeral was Leah’s mother only recently returned from Abuja.”

Continuing, Ogebe said in a statement e-mailed to News Express late Thursday: “Incidentally Leah’s grandmother had been on standby last weekend to receive Leah following another false alert that Leah was to be released the previous Friday or Saturday while her mother was away at a prayer gathering in Abuja.

“She had been alone at home to receive Leah’s only other sibling who had returned from school on break. The young boy (name withheld) was attending a boarding school in another northeast town when his elder sister Leah was abducted from her boarding school in Dapchi. It was young Master Sharibu’s first time coming home to the sad reality of his missing sister Leah.”

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