Ese Oruru: Court sentences Yinusa Dahiru to 26 yrs imprisonment

… Details how Ese Oruru was abducted forced in marriage and Islamic faith.

By Daniel Efe

The Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has sentenced Yinusa Dahiru who kidnapped, abused and forced 13 year old Ese Oruru from Yenagoa and taken to the Emir of Kano’s palace to 25 years imprisonment.

Justice Jane Inyang delivered the long-awaited judgement today in Yenagoa.

Ese Oruru, a Teenager reportedly abducted in August 2015, taken to Kano State and forced into marriage by one Yinusa Dahiru.

The Criminal Yinusa Dahiru on his way to the jail.

Justice Jane Inyang, acquitted Dahiru on Count one but jailed him for five years on count two, seven years on count three, seven years more on count four and another seven years on count five which stood at a total of 26years.

The sentences, according to the judge would run concurrently.

It would be recalled that 14 years old Ese Rita Oruru from Opolo in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State was allegedly abducted on 12 August 2015 by Yunusa Dahiru, also known as “Yellow”, who was a regular customer at her mother’s food store.

Dahiru is reported to have sold his three-wheel taxi and used the proceeds to transport Ese, then aged 13, over 800 miles north to Kano State, where she was obliged to change her religion and name, and was “married”.

Ese was released on 29 March, 24 hours after the local newspaper Punch launched a #FreeEse campaign that resonated with Nigerians across social media both at home and abroad. Her family sought the assistance of the press and local NGOs after failing to secure her release on several occasions.

During the first attempt on 15 August 2015, her mother Mrs Rose Oruru travelled to Dahiru home area in Kano State, where the village chief insulted her, informing her that her daughter had converted to Islam, changed her name to Aisha, was now “married” and was in the custody of the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II.

At the emir’s palace Mrs Oruru was insulted and assaulted on at least two occasions by irate youth, was refused direct access to her daughter despite being accompanied by police officers and was eventually told by the Kano Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to return to her home and report the situation to the Yenagoa CID.

Subsequent attempts to secure Ese’s release proved abortive until the campaign went viral. On 1 March, she was flown to Abuja and reunited with her mother the following day. Dahiru is currently under arrest and is likely to face trial in Yenagoa. In a briefing to the Governor of Bayelsa her father, Mr Charles Oruru, confirmed that Ese is five months pregnant.

Under Nigerian law anyone below the age of 18 is a minor. Additionally, Nigeria’s Child Rights Act stipulates a fine of N500,000 a five year prison sentence, or both for anyone involved in child betrothal and child marriage.

The Act also specifies a 10 year sentence for abducting child from lawful custody if the abductee remains in Nigeria and a maximum life term for sexual relations with children.
In a statement issued on 1 March calling for Dahiru’s immediate prosecution, the NGO Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) pointed out that “attempting to marry off the girl without her parent’s permission is not only a breach of common law but also a violation of the Shari’a provision on the need for the parents’ approval before nikah (Islamic marriage) can be deemed valid.”

The group added that under Section 38 (ii) of the Constitution Ese is “deemed to be an adherent of her parents’ religion until she attains maturity”, and described her alleged conversion as “null and void and of no consequence whatsoever.”