It was a case of twisted irony. A month before President Muhammadu Buhari launched the “Year of Action to End Violence Against Children in Nigeria,” which was September 15, 2015, 14-year-old Ese Rita Oruru, was abducted.
During the launch, every state in Nigeria was called upon to launch campaigns to end violence against children.
Only a few paid heed.
On August 12, 2015, Ese, then 13, and a JSS3 pupil of Central Epie Secondary School, Opolo, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, was abducted by Yunusa Dahiru, aka, Yellow, from Bayelsa and taken to Kano, where her parents said their teenage daughter had been forced to convert to Islam, and forced into child marriage without their consent. The abductor was a long-standing customer of Ese’s mother, Rose, who is a food vendor.
Despite her parents’ visits on separate trips to Kano — to the palace of the Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, the Kano police station, and the Kano Shari’ah Commission – to plead for their daughter’s release, it took a massive campaign by SUNDAY PUNCH two weeks ago, as well as the attendant deluge of outrage from Nigerians from all walks of life to get the teenage girl, who hails from Ughelli North, in Delta State, released by her abductors.
Twenty-four hours after the SUNDAY PUNCH report on February 28, 2016, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, and the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, were forced to act. Although Sanusi said he had ordered the release of Ese, whose name had been changed to Aisha Chuwas, since last year, the authorities only swung into action following SUNDAY PUNCH’s report.
On Tuesday, March 1, Ese was eventually reunited with her mother in Abuja, and then with her family members in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, on Wednesday, March 2.
Since then, the teenager has been in the custody of the Bayelsa State police at the Police Officers Mess in Yenagoa. While Yunusa, her abductor, was arraigned last Tuesday at the Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, on five counts bordering on abduction, coercion, unlawful carnal knowledge, seduction into illicit sex and sexual exploitation of a minor.
He has since been remanded in prison, while the case was adjourned to March 14 for hearing on the bail application by his counsel, Kayode Olaosebikan.
In another case of alleged abduction, a primary school teacher in Zaria, Kaduna State, Mr. Nichodemus Odugisi, said his daughter, Ifeoma, was abducted by one Alhaji Shehu Abdullahi on September 14, 2014.
Odugisi, who hails from Ebonyi State, said Ifeoma was 14 years old at the time of her alleged abduction.
He said his daughter disappeared after he beat her for returning home late. After searching for her desperately, with no luck, Odugisi said he was later told his daughter was with Abdullahi.
He claimed his daughter had been hypnotised, converted to Islam and about to be married off without his consent.
Odugisi also said he then took the case to the state’s Upper Sharia Court, which ordered Ifeoma’s release to him, noting that she was still a minor.
However, he said Abdullahi refused to obey the court’s bidding, which prompted Odugisi to file another case at the High Court 3 located along the Local Government Secretariat in Zaria, but to no avail.
“I am hopeful that I will get justice in this matter,” Odugisi said.
He has yet to get his wish. He also alleged that the police officers investigating the case had been extorting money from him.
The alleged abductor, Abdullahi, who is said to run an Islamic school, has since claimed that Ifeoma came to him on her own volition; that she wanted to convert from Christianity to Islam. He also said she was four years older than the age the father claimed.
Abdullahi further said Ifeoma had told him she wanted t0 live with him. So, he invited her parents to his house, where he said she told them the same thing.
When SUNDAY PUNCH contacted the investigating police officer of the case, who is simply known as Samaru, he said, “Please stop disturbing me, nobody abducted her,” and switched off his telephone.
Abduction, forced marriage epidemic
Just like Odugisi, other parents like him are still trapped in the prisons of uncertainty, and fading hope, over the fates of their children, who they claimed, like Ese, were abducted by people with the same sinister motive as Yunusa’s – forceful conversion of their underage daughters to Islam and forced child marriage.
Previously forgotten statistics in the cases of abduction of young teenage girls, these parents came forward with their heart-breaking stories a few days after Ese’s story on February 28. Three particular cases in Bauchi were depressing:
Progress Jacob, a 13-year-old girl, who was abducted in Bauchi on January 3, 2016; Blessing Gopep, a 13-year-old girl, who was stolen in August 2015, then aged 12, from a Bauchi motor park by two men. Blessing’s father identified the men as Iliya and Umaru, both living in Alkaleri area of the state. Then, 16-year-old Linda Christopher, who was abducted on November 19, 2015, at Tarsha Durumi village in Bauchi.
These girls are said to be in the custody of the Bauchi Shari’ah Commission and some others, who have seemingly played the ostrich when the parents of the abducted girls had reported it to the authorities.
While these parents have endured the agony of not being reunited with their missing daughters for months, now 20-year-old Lucy Ejeh’s parents have borne the pain for five years.
According to Lucy’s father, Mr. Ejeh, their daughter, then aged 15, was abducted on October 31, 2009 in Talata Mafara, Zamfara State. Although she was found three days later in the house of an Islamic cleric, named Alhaji Awaisu, the parents claim that Lucy, who was born and raised a Catholic, was not allowed to follow them home.
Lucy was then a Senior Secondary School 1 pupil of Government Girls College, Talata Mafara.
Her name was said to have been immediately changed to Lewusa.
Despite letter of petitions reporting the incident to the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons, on November 13, 2009; another letter of complaint dated January 28, 2010, to the then Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonaya Onovo (which was received on February 3, 2010); and later contacts with the Zamfara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Istifanus Shettima, Lucy has not been returned home to her worried parents.
There is also the case of 15-year-old Patience Paul, a Benue girl, who was reportedly abducted by two neighbours and married off to one ‘Sarkin Musulumi’ in Sokoto State.
Closely related to these are the missing 219 Chibok girls, a puzzle that has yet to be solved by the Federal Government since April 2014 when they were kidnapped from their school hostel in Government Secondary School, Borno State.
For the Orurus, Jacobs, Gopeps, Christophers, Ejehs, Pauls and the Chibok parents, despite the time differences, they share a common bond of pain over their missing daughters who have been abducted, and forced to embrace a religion and marriage without their consents.
Underage marriage of girls is widespread in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, especially in the northern region of the country.
Statistics from the International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights, states that in Northern Nigeria, about 45 per cent of girls are married— usually against their will—by age 15, while 73 per cent are married by age 18.
These figures are some of the highest rates of child marriages in the world.
The report further stated that, “Only two per cent of 15-19 year old married girls attend school, continuing the cycle of poverty. They are more likely to be victims of domestic violence; highly vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV; and face a high risk of complications, even death, during pregnancy and childbirth.”
Adults who forcefully marry such teenage girl brides hide under the guise of religion and tradition to carry out such practices, which is further fuelled by poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, the report said.
Some of these child brides have on their own revolted against the practice.
Wasila Umar, a 14-year-old child bride, broke news headlines in April 2014 when she allegedly killed her husband and four of his friends through food poisoning.
Surprisingly, her underage marriage to the same husband did not attract attention until it led to the murder about three weeks later.
Such cases stick out like sore thumbs in a society where the rights of the child, especially the girl child, has been serially violated by many under the guise of tradition and religion, noted the Executive Director, Kindling Hope Across Nations Initiative, Mr. Kizito Andah, who took on Ese Oruru’s case after being informed by a neighbour.
Andah said, “It shows that we live in a society that has a culture of impunity; a lawless and an uncaring society. We know how good a society is by the way it treats its vulnerable, and none is more vulnerable in society than children and the elderly.”
Ese, now pregnant, was also quoted as saying she was not the only girl where she was kept captive. Her parents also told SUNDAY PUNCH that Yunusa had told the mother the same thing when she travelled to Kano to plead for her release.
Andah said, “Clearly, Ese’s case (and others) showed there is a conflict between the Sharia law and the constitutional law. And from all indications, the people involved did not think they had committed a crime.
“Also, it shows the breakdown of societal values. When Yunusa appeared with an underage girl before the Shari’ah council, his father and others could not even question him or do anything about it, and the people over there have not expressed any indignation at the perpetrators of the crime. That tells you that there are bigger problems in this country. How do we draw the line between Sharia, traditional religion and the constitution of the country?”
Abduction versus elopement
While the nation’s consciousness over the abduction of young girls for religious and forced marriages seem to have been awakened since Ese Oruru’s abduction saga, some sections have claimed that girls like Ese had ‘eloped’ with their older ‘lovers,’ and were not abducted as claimed.
However, an Abuja-based lawyer, Mr. Barde Sambo, who is privy to such cases, said elopement was not the issue.
He explained: “In elopement, the person would have to consent. Legally speaking, if the person is not up to 18 years, that person does not have the legal capacity to give consent. So, all these are cases of abduction. Even if the girls had consented, legally speaking, they are incapable of giving such consent.”
Similarly, a former chairman, Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja chapter, Mr. Monday Ubani, said, “Our law provides that, from 18, one can give valid consent to the issue of marriage. People that have been marrying minors are going contrary to the laws of the land. Ese’s case is an eye opener, especially now that someone has been charged for defilement.”
Sambo further said frequent adjournment does not help to serve justice to affected parents.
“I have not discovered any loophole in the law yet, but what I have discovered is the machinery of justice. This is an issue of the infringement of the person’s rights. It ought to be handled and looked into as soon as possible. But in our courts, when a matter is filed, it suffers from adjournment even when the rule clearly states how it should be handled. The (2009) enforcement rules says the court ought to slate a date for hearing within seven days, and the matter will only be adjourned when it is appears to be extremely expedient; that is the provision of the rules. ‘Extremely expedient’ is a question of fact.”
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, the number of child brides in Africa will more than double to 310 million by 2050 unless urgent action is taken, as more than one in three girls, mostly in poor rural families, are married before the age of 18.
In Nigeria, it is a stark reality that analysts say needs immediate attention.
The ‘loophole’ may not be in the law, but in its implementation to protect the Nigerian girl child, noted Ubani.
Ubani further said the Child Rights Act of 2003 made elaborate provisions for the protection of the child.
“The issues of economic, social and educational welfare are all provided for. The law is there but their implementation has always been the problem. We don’t implement our laws. Most times, the institutions are very weak or the agencies empowered by law to carry out their responsibilities are not doing it the way it is supposed to be done.
“Also, what we have is that most states in the country have not enacted these laws. It is only at the national level that we have the Child Rights Act, only a few states have done so.”
A child rights activist, Mrs. Helen Oshikoya, also questioned the implementation of the Child Rights Act.
“The Child Rights Act says it is against the law to force any child to marry without consent. I blame parents and society. Who will rescue these girls? We have these laws but who is enforcing them?” she asked.
Oshikoya added that such cases of sex or marriage with a minor with or without her consent are frowned upon in other more developed societies.
“In other countries, it is regarded as statutory rape, and one cannot do that and get away with it; the person will be labelled and his name would be published as a sex offender. There is no excuse, one is not supposed to (sexually) touch a girl under the age of 16, or else that person will go to jail. Even in cases where the girls later married them, the police still arrested them because at the early stages, the child was less than 16,” she said.
This was evident in the case against English footballer, Adam Johnson, who had an sexual relationship with a 15-year-old British schoolgirl.
Following the revelation, Johnson was sacked by his club, Sunderland FC, and has been arraigned in court. Having been found guilty of sexual activity with a 15-year-old schoolgirl, the footballer is currently facing a lengthy jail term.
Oshikoya said, aside from the other abducted girls, the Ejehs may also still find justice despite their daughter being abducted five years ago.
“It is still statutory rape, it does not matter how long, there is no status of limitation on crime. It does not matter when one committed the offence, it can still be prosecuted and the person will go to jail,” she told SUNDAY PUNCH.
Long road to healing
While Ese has been released, it would take time for her recovery, noted a child psychiatrist, Dr. Yemi Ogun.
She said, “Girls like Ese may have psycho-social and post-traumatic stress disorder, reliving the stress of the sexual abuse and things she went through in the hands of her abductors. She could also have nightmares, and psychologically, she may not want the pregnancy, she would feel shame and stigma. And there may not be bonding or an emotional attachment with this child later, unless there is enough family support.”
In the same vein, A psychiatrist, Dr. Oyewole Adeoye, said abducted girls may have to deal with mental illnesses, substance abuse and sexual disorders later in life due to the trauma of their experiences in the hands of their abductors.
“Also, being pregnant has complications to it too. Vesico Vagina Fistula is common in the north because of this, as the organs of these teenagers are not yet mature. She could also be stigmatised which could lead to psychosis,” he added.
Adeoye thus called on a multi-disciplinarian approach by a support team of psychologist, counsellors, doctors and others, to help girls such as Ese.
Two Thursdays ago, after a meeting with Ese and the Orurus at the Government House, Yenagoa, the governor of Bayelsa, Seriake Dickson, pledged to assist in Ese’s rehabilitation, as well as the welfare of the Orurus.
Dickson also called for a thorough investigation into the abduction and subsequent prosecution of the culprits who had abducted the teenager from Bayelsa.
The governor emphasised that the issue of Ese’s abduction should not be treated from the viewpoint of culture, tradition or religion, but rather as a case of an infringement on Ese’s fundamental human rights and of law enforcement.
He said, “We as a government, are seeing this matter as one of law enforcement, the rights of a young girl, innocent childhood, her rights to proper development and her rights to grow up in the company of her parents and also practise, for now, the faith of her parents.”
Aside from the pledge made by the Bayelsa State governor, Andah believes Ese and the Orurus would need all the emotional, medical, psychological, and financial support they can get, not only from government, but also from individuals and corporate organisations.
Many experts say, after a harrowing seven months ordeal in the hands of her abductors, it may be a long road to recovery for the young, brilliant girl who wants to become a medical doctor.
Adeoye said, “The psychologists need to be able to explore her psychological history and the implications. Social workers need to help her get back to school and her peers. The mother should be empowered with a good job and allow the child to go back to school nevertheless. Spiritual leaders need to make her realise God has forgiven her. This is a scar she would live with, but she can be healed fully, especially if she gets a lot of support. She can get out of it, but the support must be strong and well-articulated.”
Since her release, the teenager has undergone a battery of tests and counselling sessions. As it stands, Ese’s journey to recovery has finally begun.
For other parents whose daughters are still in captivity, it is still a long road to freedom.
