US team launches projects in Yobe, Benue for Leah, now held captive 4 years
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
A team of Nigerians and Americans from the United States has commissioned two humanitarian projects in Yobe and Benue as part of activities in honour of Leah Sharibu who was abducted by Boko Haram four years ago.
Leah, a Christian, was one of the 110 pupils aged between 11 and 19 the Islamist jihadists kidnapped from Government Girls’ Science Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi, Yobe State on 19 February 2018.
She was aged 14 at the time.
She was forced to accept Islam and married off to a top Boko Haram commander after she refused to renounce her Christian faith.
Leah is the only one among the 110 girls still being held by the terrorists. She gave birth to a second child in captivity in March 2021, reported by The Guardian (Nigeria).
In honour of her, the US team donated on 14 February 2022 a five-bedroom, fenced and renovated compound with boys’ quarters to Tivid Orphanage in Makurdi which had been given a quit notice last year for owing N2 million in back rent.
The donation came 10 months after the team dedicated a brand new church to an Agatu community ravaged in the 2016 massacre by Fulani herdsmen.
Visitors and hosts
The CEOs of US Nigeria Law Group and Widows & Orphans LLC flew in from the US in February and were joined by representatives of the wife of Benue Governor, Eunice Ortom, and Women Affairs Commissioner Tabitha Igirgi.
Other hosts included former Information Commissioner Ngunan Addingi, retired Supreme Court Justice James Ogebe, first female doctor from Northern Nigeria Mary Ogebe, and Hannah, wife of the late pioneer Secretary to the Benue State Government Simon Onekutu.
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Touched by God to help
One of the US humanitarian team leaders, William Devlin, a clergyman, recounted that during his visit to Tivid Orphanage in September 2021, he was immediately touched by God to acquire a new property so the 54 orphans would not be thrown on the street even after he purchased new solar electric batteries for the orphanage.
US Nigeria Law Group (USNLG) Managing Partner Emmanuel Ogebe, a human rights lawyer and co-lead of the US humanitarian team, said he first saw an appeal for assistance posted on Facebook by Addingi’s daughter.
Then while attending a Tigris Jazz concert at Transcorp Hilton Abuja, he saw Addingi featured in a 700 Club video visiting an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp.
The following day while waiting for a meeting in Makurdi he decided to drop in on Addingi who was his former head girl at Bristow Secondary School. At her urging, they visited the orphanage.
Ogebe implored the audience – that also included the orphans, pastors, and supporters of the ministry – to note how God moved people from different parts of the world in response to a teenage girl’s faith to make the new orphanage a reality.
Young Miss Addingi, who attends an international school in Abuja, had insisted on doing her community service in her home state of Benue.
While there she learnt about the eviction notice and began her appeal on Facebook. She also travelled from Abuja attend the dedication ceremony.
Tivid Orphanage praises God for donation
Favour Ada, head of Tivid Orphanage, said at the time of the US team’s visit in September 2021, they had raised only N200,000 just 10 per cent of the N2 million rent owed.
She expressed gratitude to God and the donors for the miraculous blessing of an unexpected new property.
Some of the orphans from the Agatu massacre live in the orphanage.
A pastor from Chibok, whose sister is among the missing 112 schoolgirls, expressed appreciation for the donation of the orphanage.
Mary Ogebe, head of Future Hope Scholarship Foundation, promised to assist an orphan from Tivid with scholarship.
‘No limit to where God can take anyone’
Emmanuel Ogebe reiterated to the audience that there is no limit to where God can take anyone, saying he attended Demonstration Primary School in Makurdi but God has divinely repositioned him in strategic global fora.
His words: “This is the third construction project in Benue through my US network since last year as a block of classrooms was also built at an IDP camp.
“I was very thankful to learn that famous Nigerian-American artist Davido supported Tivid Orphanage in Benue State and also another recently destroyed orphanage in Plateau State with monetary donations.
“In my estimation I do not recall that any single individual in Nigerian history has systematically made a donation to orphanages in all the 36 states of Nigeria simultaneously.
“This leads me to believe that Davido has set a national record for philanthropy by his benevolence like what US Billionaire Warren Buffet did by mobilising his billionaire friends to give to charity.
“Orphanages play a critical societal function serving as a social safety net for the most vulnerable and every state government should be appreciative and supportive of orphanages in their domain.
“I am happy that Benue is not like Kano where 16 Christian orphans from Du Merci orphanage have been abducted, detained, abused, burnt and Islamised by the state government.
“In fact, when the police in Benue arrested a woman for trying to sell her baby for N200,000, they brought the infant to Tivid Orphanage to be cared for. This shows the importance of orphanages and police community relations.”