The wife of Nigeria’s President and First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, and the most prominent victim of Boko Haram abduction have been honoured by the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN), a frontline Christian ecumenical body.
Sharibu is a 22-year-old Nigerian Christian woman who has become an international symbol of religious perseverance due to her abduction on February 19, 2018 by Boko Haram’s splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
They terrorists had attacked the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe State, abducting 110 schoolgirls, including Leah, who was then a 14-year-old Christian student. This incident echoed the infamous 2014 Chibok kidnapping but drew renewed global attention to the targeting of girls’ education by extremist groups.
Other recipients of CCN Award include: former Minister of Information and National Orientation, Professor Jerry Gana; President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Archbishop (Dr) Daniel Okoh; the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese on the Niger, the Rt. Rev’d Dr Owen Nwokolo; the Anglican Bishop of Evo Diocese in Rivers State, the Rt. Rev’d Innocent Ordu; a member of the Board of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Bishop Stephen Tunde Victor Adegbite; a legal practitioner and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, and a business man and Chairman of Chicason Group, Chief Alexander Chika Okafor.
The Award was given during the opening ceremony of the 32nd Triennial General Assembly and 96th Anniversary Celebration of CCN which took place on Wednesday, November 26, 2025 at the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria (First Abuja Parish), Wuse 2, Abuja.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s “Queen Esther Award” was received on her behalf by Bishop Stephen Adegbite while Leah Sharibu Award for steadfast Christian faith which has additional cash of N500,000 was received by her mother, Mrs Rebecca Sharibu.
