Ese Oruru pregnant for me, says Yunusa
Ese Oruru was allegedly abducted by Yunusa Dahiru in August 2015 PHOTO: Ladidi Lucy Elukpo
• Suspect pleads not guilty • Alleged abductor insists ‘girl’s mother aware of our love affair’
Yunusa Dahiru, the alleged abductor of the 14-year-old Ese Rita Oruru, was yesterday arraigned before a Federal High Court sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on five-count charge of abduction, kidnapping, unlawful carnal knowledge and sexual exploitation.
The accused person, who appeared in court in a relaxed mood, was arraigned before Justice H.A. Nganjiwa around 10:00 a.m. yesterday, in a case between the Inspector General of Police (IGP) versus Yinusa Dahiru ‘M’ aged 18 years.
Prior to his arraignment yesterday, a special prosecutor from the Police Force Headquarters in Abuja had arrived in Yenagoa for the formal arraignment of Dahiru for masterminding the abduction of Ese Oruru from Bayelsa to Kano State and forcefully marrying her and converting her to Islam.
The special prosecutor, who arrived in Bayelsa on Saturday, was reported to have met with the suspect, Dahiru and Ese Oruru to officially obtain statements from them.
The charges read:
• That Yunusa Dahiru ‘m’ of Opolo-Epie, with Dankano Mohammed, ‘m’, Mallam Alhassan, ‘m’ presently at large between August 2015 and February 2016 at Oplo-Epie in Yenagoa Judicial Division of the Federal High Court did conspire among yourselves to commit an offence to wit: Abduction and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 27 (a) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015;
• That Dahiru between August 2015 and February 2016 at Opolo Epie, Yenagoa, abducted one Rita Ese Oruru ‘f’ aged 14 years by means of coercion, transported and harboured her in Kano State and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 13 (2) (b) of the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act, 2015;
• That Dahiru, between August 2015 and February 2016 at Opolo-Epie, Yenagoa, induced one Rita Ese Oruru by the use of deception and coercion to go with him from Yenagoa to Kano State with intent that she be forced or seduced into illicit intercourse and thereby committed an offence punishable under anti-trafficking law;
• That Dahiru, between August 2015 and February 2016 2016 at Opolo-Epie, Yenagoa, procured one Rita Ese Oruru and subjected her into sexual exploitation in Kano State and thereby committed an offence punishable under the anti-trafficking law;
• That Dahiru, between August 2015 and February 2016 at OIpolo-Epie, Yenagoa, had unlawful carnal knowledge of one Rita Ede Oruru , without her consent and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 357 of the Criminal Code Act and punishable under section 358 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap. C. 38, Laws of the Federation of Nigerian, 2004.
After reading the charges, Dahiru pleaded not guilty before the court, while the case was adjourned to March 14 for hearing on the bail application by his counsel, Kayode Olaoshebikan.
After he appeared from the court unruffled, Yunusa told reporters that he had been dating Ese before they both left for Kano, adding that his mother was aware of the relationship.
He admitted being responsible for Ese’s five months pregnancy, but said he did not know how old the pregnancy was as he started sleeping with her months before they both left for Kano. Dahiru further said it was only the father that was not aware of their relationship as the mother knew that they were both seeing each other.
The counsel to Dahiru, Kayode Olashebikan, said: “ There is no case, it is easy for the prosecution to bring up charges, but Yunusa as a man has pleaded not guilty and it is left for the prosecution to prove their case beyond every reasonable doubt.
“It is a case of two love birds, in our social parlance we call it elopement but government and the state prefer to call it abduction. It is left for the court to decide whether it is abduction or elopement of two minors because Yunusa is 18 years old and the girl in question is 14 years old.”
The prosecuting counsel, Kenneth Dka, said the state was ready to prove its case against the accused persons, with its six witnesses.
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31 Comments
“…It is left for the court to decide whether it is abduction or elopement of two minors because Yunusa is 18 years old and the girl in question is 14 years old.” And, this is coming from a lawyer? Is he not suppose to knwo better that this nonsence credited to this supposedly “learned friend?”
If the accused is 18 years old, what does that make him? A minor? Or an adult? and, the victim in this matter, who is 14 years old is a minor or an adult? This lawyer should be prosecuted in my books, as he doesn’t see anything wrong in this so-called loopsided, depraved and stomach-sickning story!
Oh, one last question for the learned friend. If this were to be your own daughter, would you welcome “Yellow” into the family with an outstretch hands? Common, people. Let’s call a spade a spade.
Nigeria is a failed state!
Even though I agree with the reasons you enumerated here but these kind of issues is not enough to classify Nigeria as a fail state unless if you have other ulterior motives.
Hi naijaman,
Please, see my response to Arabakpura. Hope it makes more sense to you now by my assertion of Nigeria being a failed state.
If Nigeria were to be a failed state, I bet, you would not have the opportunity to comment unless you are outside because only outsiders will be able to comment! Having said that, the religious angle is what makes the case all the more disgusting and will the young man be able to cater for three? The guy even had the temerity to confirm that he had been eaten the yam illegally!
Hi Arabakpura,
Thanks for yours and the comments of others. I don’t have to be outside or inside the country to make a comment on any issue that’s of concern to the generality of the public.
Having said that, my usuage of the term, failed state, is used as described here and l quote – “A failed state is a country with a government that cannot or will not deliver essential political goods (public services) to its citizens. The state, usually not yet a nation-state, may hold a seat in the United Nations and function as a sovereign entity in regional and world politics, but as far as most of its people are concerned, the state fails them by its inability to perform state functions adequately. Thus, failed states are those political entities in international politics that supply deficient qualities and quantities of political goods and, simultaneously, no longer exercise a monopoly of violence within their
territories.”
Or, better still, a state that has gone pear-shaped, gone belly up, fallen or is falling apart, died, where things, ordinary things, have stopped working or don’t work at all, etc, etc, etc.
I thought in the 80s, Nigeria was bad. Little did l know that l was living in paradise then.
The late Sonny Okosun’s song best illustrates the failure of the Nigerian state. I’ll try to reproduce its lyrics as much as possible for you, only to show you that the Nigerian state has been on the decline for too long.
Here are the lyrics of the song. I start off with the refrain which goes thus:
“Which way Nigeria
Which way Nigeria
Which way Nigeria to go
I love my fatherland
I want to know
Which way Nigeria
Is heading to
Many years after our independence
We still find it hard to start
How long shall we be patient before we reach the promised land
Let’s safe Nigeria, so Nigeria won’t die.
Every little thing that goes wrong we start to blame the government
We know that everything that goes wrong
Were’re part of the government
Let’s save Nigeria so Nigeria won’t die
Innefficiency and indiscipline is running the country now
Corruption here and everywhere,
Inflation is soaring high
Let’s safe Nigeria so Nigeria won’t die
We made mistakes during the oil boom not knowing that’s our doom
Some people now have everything
While many, many people have nothing
Let’s safe Nigeria so Nigeria won’t fall
Our ambitio to be millionaires is running the country down
We all want to be millionaires and to live in the air
Let’s safe Nigeria so Nigeria won’t die”.
I will skip some verses as I’m sure you understand my drift by now And to think that this great song was recorded in 1984! I wish it could be played more often on our airwaves.
So, l still stand by my declaration, which is, that Nigeria is a failed state. I can write a book on this.
Thank you very much for the write up; it’s quite brilliant! The word “failed State” is my nightmare! I have this simple response which I am sure you can recognize:
“Arise, O Compatriots
Nigeria’s call obey
To serve our fatherland
WITH LOVE And STRENGTH and FAITH
The labor of our heroes past
Shall never be in vain
To serve with HEART and MIGHT
One NATION bound in FREEDOM
PEACE and UNITY”
What defense counsel meant by “minors” is that at the time of the crime Yinusa was a minor. Leave the defense counsel, the matter is before the court. Let justice be done.
Google a picture of Yinusa. He looks older than my dad. And I should be more than 10 years older than Yunusa. He’s lying. Yinusa is not 18.
@disqus_XRxFpkhXHP:disqus LMAO. I’ve seen these things happen before. Everything will be subjected to “proof” even his age.
if Yunusa is 18 years old now, it means he was 17 when the incident occurred, hence he was a minor.
Don’t let us rush into judging, let both parties present their cases
What do you expect from a brainless lawyer, Yinusa is guilty as charge, they should just waste him!
I’m trying to understand your agitation. Really, I am.
“Dahiru further said it was only the father that was not aware of their relationship as the mother knew that they were both seeing each other…” Amukoko, what’s your view on the above comment from Yunusa?
The view is that the mother typical of average warri woman will encourage her daughter to couple as quickly as possible! I believe that was the reason the woman said that the boy disappointed her because she did not give him to take away!
He is admitting to molesting a child in court and he probably thinks they were dating. He admitted to sleeping with her at 13, he does not see it as a crime.
If this happened in the UK, that admission quaifies him for prison.
note that he was 17 then.
The major problem in this case is that of parenting failure from both sides.
Let the judiciary do their job and decide as appropriate, we don’t know the entire story yet
She was still in his custody when he became 18 (if he is 18) and eligible to be prosecuted.
May the daughter of the defense counsel also elope with an older male and get pregnant in Jesus Name . Amen.
Amen!!
The great Irish dramatist, Bernard Shaw, said that a lawyer can be on any side of a given case, without loss of face, depending on who paid him first. It’s a pity but that’s how most lawyers operate.
Elopement or abduction, Nigeria can’t be called a failed state in a matter that is before a competent court of law. My dear friend, i am sorry to tell you that you erred in law and right to self expression. Thank you as we watch what will be the judicial outcome of the matter.
“Failed state” is a technical term and from the definition he gave, Nigeria surely exhibits some qualities of a failed state, at least to some significant level. Therefore an opinion that classifies Nigeria as a failed state is not entirely out of place. It is a matter of opinion. But for me, while I recognise there are many areas we need improvement, I will not go so far as to call Nigeria a failed state.
How can Kayode call an 18-year old man a minor; by what law is he a minor? We must however commend the Inspector General of Police for not failing the acid test by arresting and ensuring that the law takes its course. The rest is left to the Judiciary, no matter how messy it appears on election cases.
How messy is it really in Election cases if I must ask?
Thanks Mr. Ikpeazu,
I guess you wish to pull my legs; I will oblige.
Almost all Nigerians and the exposed outside world to African affairs are aware of the mess in the Nigerian judiciary particularly on election issues. I said election, because not many are privileged to know of other sundry cases in the courts.Recall some of the cases: Taraba State governorship election tribunal judgement; Delta State House of Assembly Appeal Court ruling on Aniocha-North (PDP vs Accord); petition tribunal rulings on Rivers and Abia etc. But for the Supreme Court’s safes, many Nigerians would have completely written off Nigerian Judiciary. Most of their rulings, no doubt, have been fraudulent.In the case of Delta state Appeal Court (Benin) ruling, judges who reviewed the earlier ruling noted what they called “errors from one of the judges” but “could not reverse itself to avoid further messing up the judiciary.” There has to be a change, otherwise possible ‘revolution from below’ in a very near future may devastate this country beyond repair.Help, Mr. Ikpeazu, if you are in a position to offer any solution to the mess in the Nigerian judiciary.ThanksPius Odiaka
Child Act says that a 14 year old child is not capable of giving consent for marriage. What part of that statement of the law does the defence counsel not understand?
This fake certified lawyers are messing the image of this country up , hahaha just google the yunusa face as my sis.said you can just solve this simple mathematics for me.18 +14=yunusa
Is this a white wash case? We may never know the truth about this case. Remember that, we are told, the emir of Kano gave orders that the girl be released since August 2015. This was not carried out and the girl remained in the emir’s palace. The orders of the emir of Kano disobeyed in Kano without any ripples? Yet it was the same emir who now gave the orders from South Africa before the girl was released to the police. If not for the press, this girl would have remained in the emir’s palace up till now. Some people prevented the parents from reaching the girl, when they went to Kano to get the girl, in spite of police,s involvement. Can those people ever be arrested in in our own type of country
To IG of Police I say – where is Tompolo? He sabotaged the entire country by cutting pipelines to the refineries and to export terminal. Economic terrorism leading to billions in lost revenue and repair costs attendant with untold hardship of lack of electricity and petroleum products. He is on the loose and in spite of the warrant of arrest, no bounty have been put on the head of thsi dangerous criminal who we are told had his security personnel provided by the Nigerian Police withdrawn the same day the judge issued his warrant of arrest. This case here should be prosecuted, however I need the IG to update every Nigerian everyday on what he is doing to find and produce Tompolo!
Oga Kayode, Mr Counsel to Yunusa, 18 years is not considered an minor under our Constitution. 18 years is an adult. Don’t teach us nonsense.
More so his father said he is 25 years and not 18.
They should flush out Boko Haram from the womb of the girl.
We will review and take appropriate action.