Hauwa Liman's father begs Boko Haram to send her corpse home for burial

Mohammed

Liman was one of the three humanitarian workers abducted in Rann, Kala Balge local government area of Borno State by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a faction of Boko Haram, on March 1, 2018.

She was executed just a month after the terrorists killed another hostage, Saifura Ahmed, and threatened to kill her if the government did not respond to its demands.

Liman's death has been greeted by condolence and widespread condemnation of the government's inability to secure her release.

While speaking to TVC on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, Mohammed said he needs to see his daughter's corpse so that her family's hearts will be at peace.

He said, "The insurgents wanted ransom and the deadline has elapsed and therefore they took their action. I don't know whether they've done it or not. I'm not sure up till now.

"I want the corpse, that's all. If she was killed, let them bring her corpse so that we'll bury her in the Islamic way. Our hearts will be in peace. Otherwise, we'll never forget this incident."

The deceased mother expressed disbelief over Hauwa's death, disclosing that her captors were too impatient to wait for the ransom the government was going to pay for her life.

She said, "I still can't come to terms with my daughter's death. All her captors wanted was money. The president announced that he'll ensure my daughter is freed, but her captors were not patient to get payment. The period President Buhari made the announcement and the time she was killed was very short.

"These are women and aid workers who should have been spared. I really do not believe my daughter is dead."

Why Hauwa Liman was murdered

In a statement credited to ISWAP over Hauwa Liman's execution, she was killed because she abandoned her Muslim faith and worked for ICRC, same as Saifura Ahmed.

The statement read, "Saifura and Hauwa were killed because they are considered as Murtads (apostates) by the group because they were once Muslims that have abandoned their Islam, the moment they chose to work with the Red Cross, and for us, there is no difference between Red Cross and UNICEF.

"If we see them, we will kill the apostates among them, men or women, and chose to kill or keep the infidels as slaves, men or women."

The group further disclosed that it'll keep Leah Sharibu, a schoolgirl abducted in Dapchi in February 2018, and the last remaining aid worker, Alice Ngaddah, as slaves.

"Based on our doctrines, it is now lawful for us to do whatever we want to do with them," the group announced.

Ngaddah is a Christian who works with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) while Sharibu was the only schoolgirl that was not released when 107 other students she was kidnapped with were returned after a month.

The terrorist group failed to release her with her schoolmates because the 15-year-old refused to renounce her Christian fate.

We tried our best - Buhari

In a statement released later on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed that he had spoken to Mohammed on the phone to express his condolences over Hauwa's death.

The president said the Federal Government did everything within its power to prevent Hauwa's death but failed.

He said, "The Federal Government did everything possible to save Hauwa's life; it is tragic and regrettable that all our efforts were unsuccessful.

"Hauwa dedicated herself to serving the victims of Boko Haram's insurgency, and it is extremely sad that her life ended the way it did, at the hands of the terrorists."

He assured that the government would continue to do everything within its power to protect the lives of everyone in the North East region where the terrorists have run amok for nine years.