Yinusa Dahiru, who reportedly abducted a teenager, Ese Oruru in August 2015 from Bayelsa to Kano and forced into marriage has been sentenced to 26 years imprisonment by a Federal Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
According to The Nation, Justice Jane Inyang delivered the long-awaited judgement.
Justice Jane acquitted Dahiru on Count one but jailed him five years (count two), seven years (count three) seven years (count four) and seven years, count five.
The sentences, according to the judge. would run concurrently.
The kidnapping of Ese Rita Oruru, the youngest child of Charles Oruru and Rose Oruru, occurred on 12 August 2015 at her mother’s shop in Yenagoa local government area, Bayelsa State.
Ese, who was 13 years old at the time, was abducted by a man named Yunusa Dahiru (alias Yellow) and taken to Kano, where she was raped, forcibly Islamized and married off without her parents consent. The conversion and marriage took place in the palace of the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
Ese’s story first caught the attention of media outlets when her parents pleaded with the public for her release. Efforts to return the young teenager to her parents proved futile.
However, on 29 February 2016, Ese was reported to have been rescued by Kano State Police and placed in custody of the Nigerian government. She was later revealed to be five months pregnant with her kidnapper’s child after being released.
Various leaders, public figures and youth groups condemned Dahiru’s actions. Human rights lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, called the incident a “clear case of child trafficking” and “a worse form of corruption.”
Kano State government, through its Information, Youths and Sports Commissioner, Malam Garba, denied any involvement and demanded the culprit be prosecuted since the Constitution and Islamic teaching abhor abduction and forced marriage
