Enslaved: Odyssey to the north

Like Oscars, Nigeria is filled with surprises. The conversations in town about the abduction, forceful marriage and conversion to Islam of a 14-year-old Ese Oruru is one of such surprises.

Until last August, Ese was an innocent teenager working in her mother’s shop in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. But after Yinusa Yellow eloped with her to Kano, the city of groundnut pyramid, Ese suddenly changed status. Once in Kano, Ese changed religion, name and age. She’s now 17, Muslim and wished to be known as Aishat Chuwas and general public must take notice. Puzzling.

Curiously, in July 2013, a similar story took our country by surprise. Charity Uzoechina, the daughter of Raymond Uzoechina, a pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, was converted to Islam. She took refuge at the palace of Etsu Nupe in Niger State. Like Ese, her name was changed to Aishat too. There must be something hypnotising about the name Aishat.

In the two cases, family and friends were fenced out and it took the intervention of the federal government for their release or some sort of bilateral agreement between the families of the girls and their “abductors”.  Why must it always go this way?

It appears there’s another government in the north under the caliphate that is untouchable for the Inspector General of Police.

The temp reached fever pitch around the country in 2013, when everything started coming out of the woodwork about how Charity’s father was prevented access to her on the order of an Islamic court. The same has happened in the case of Ese.

Just like it happened in a 2010 video game, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, which inspired my own headline, the two fathers took unusual and tortuous journey to the north for the freedom of their kids. They faced threats and obstacles.

Strangely, after the dust settled on the crises, the two girls (Charity and Ese) toed the same path, though the events happened separately and at different time.

Charity told everyone to ignore her father. She said: “I converted to Islam because I love the character of Muslims, particularly the way they behave. You know Muslims believe in God. I have Muslim friends and I watch what they do, that enticed me to join Islam.  I told him (my father) that I will not change my faith, because I have already accepted Islam and this is where I want to stay.” At the end, Charity married the lawyer who defended her in court.

Now, in an audio clip obtained exclusively by PREMIUM TIMES, an online news, on Monday, Ese has also told the world to ignore her father and mother.  PREMIUM TIMES reported that Ese was heard telling a security official that she was not abducted, and would like to remain in Kano.

“My name is Aisha Chuwas. I am 17-year-old. I came here to be a Muslim and I will stay here,” she said in the audio.

The reality that party-poopers like Yinusa are being encouraged by the Islamic courts to trample on our constitution with arrogance is what baffles me most. And that it happened where educated emirs are in the leadership clearly leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

To boot, Yinusa, according to the human rights lawyer, Huwaila Mohammed, who got access to him is only 18 years old.

Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, Oruru’s bizarre story of abduction, conversion to Islam and forceful marriage wouldn’t have hit the limelight and we’ll all continue to go about our businesses while Yinusa will continue to salivate for more of such sordid act.

I am still pondering on what could have happened to Ese, if there was nothing like social media.  For about eight months, all the government agencies, including the police pretended as if it was a normal thing Yinusa did. The headship of the police, Solomon Arase, couldn’t do anything, but to wait for the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Is the office of the Emir bigger than the police?

The governors of Bayelsa, Delta and Kano who are connected with the story claimed ignorance until they were lampooned by the social media activists.

The same goes for the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who though washed his hands off the matter with the claim that he had given order for the release of the girl since last year, when the story was brought to his attention.

But can Sanusi be exonerated for merely given order of release without a feedback and he remained silence ever?

Now that Ese is out of slavery, the real question to ask is for how long shall our constitution be trampled upon for traditional institutions who should obey the law? What is the place of Nigerian Constitution in Sharia law and can a minor change her name without the consent of the parents or guardians?

Expectedly, the human rights community has called for the prosecution of Yinusa and that have my endorsement. The exploitation of minors is very real and perhaps growing issue in Nigeria. The social harm and medical risk young girls are exposed to in particular should motivate the federal government to respond to the case of Yinusa with appropriate action.

Ese may have been lured out of Bayelsa to kano based on love or the promise of it by Yinusa, but the real intention of Yinusa may be to use Ese for his own profits. So Yinusa should be charged for criminality bordering on trafficking and as a sex offender.

But this is my final take: parents should do more to empower their girl child to protect themselves from exploitation, and know that they can come to them with their concerns, vulnerabilities and experiences.  Much more, the twin cases of Charity and Ese should give rise to a sustained campaign against child marriage and local trafficking in the country.

Nice and tidy.