By Ayo Oyoze Baje
IN saner climes, the perpetrators and accomplices in the now famous Ese saga; complete with the callous and cruel abduction, purported forceful marriage and conversion to Islam of an under-aged girl would be behind bars grinding their teeth in utmost regret. It is one heinous act that has triggered global outrage. But crass impunity still rules here like a king. Characteristic of the might- is- right, or jungle justice scenario not a few criminals always have their way, after the deed is done, laughing at the weak with scorn. Yet, this whole unsavoury bestial crime goes beyond the voiceless victim and her caged parents.
As the dastardly drama, typical of a midnight horror-movie unfolded, Ese Oruru was barely 13 then when a pervert that goes by the name Yunusa, a commercial tricycle operator abducted her on August 12, 2015. He pulled Ese from her mother’s food store at the rural Oyolo, in Yenogoa LGA of Bayelsa State and took her to Kano for marriage. Worrisome indeed, it was that Yunusa had the tacit support of the District head, the Kano Emirate and Sharia Councils, all who, according to police investigations, frowned at the rightful efforts of Charles and Rose Oruru to have their beloved daughter back! That all these ignoble incidents were enacted in the 21st Century Nigeria reminds us that we still have a long walk to socio-economic freedom.
The pitiable plight of Ese reminds us as well, of the sordid tragedy of the Chibok girls, 219 of them still held in captivity over a year after their abduction and fruitless protests by concerned individuals and groups. One can only imagine and cringe at the horrifying tales of rape of these minors and being forced into a religious dogma one was not brought up into. It rankles and troubles the mind that such illegality still pervades our social landscape. Nigeria, as memory serves is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Human Rights of 1948. The pure evil act of this abduction runs against the grain of Section 361 of the Criminal Code Act and Cap 38 laws of the Federation of Nigeria.
In fact, the laws of Bayelsa State where the insidious act took root is explicit in this regard. It spells it out that: “any person, who with intent to marry or carnally know a female of any age, or cause her to be married, or carnally known by any other person, takes her away or detains her against her will, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.” Similarly, Section 29(4) of the Nigerian Constitution forbids abduction. And Section 21 of the Child Rights Act states unequivocally that: “No person under the age of 18 years is capable of contracting a valid marriage and accordingly any marriage so contracted is null and void and of no effect whatsoever.” Ese’s forced marriage is also contrary to the ethos of the African Child Rights Act, to which Nigeria is also a signatory.
It would be recalled that millions of Nigerians were shocked and expressed so, when in 2010 Senator Ahmed Sani took a tender, 15 year-old Egyptian girl as wife. Though he claimed his stance was not at variance with the dictates of Islam, concerned Nigerians stated that it was not in conformity with extant Nigerian laws, nor that of several international Conventions. That untoward incident has however, suffered the usual Doppler’s effect. We do honestly hope that the Ese issue would not.
If it does, then the candid views of both KHAN Initiative and the Child Protection Network, two NGOs out to raise concerns over the brutal crimes against children would have been proved right. Indeed, one hopes that Nigeria, with its current economic woes and anti-social acts does not slide into a failed state, a banana republic where the voice of the most vulnerable group of our society is drowned in the conundrum of the perversity of the so called rich and powerful.
In all honesty, the ignoble roles played by the Kano State Police Command, the Department of State Service and the Kano Emirate Council leave much to be desired. It is untenable that a top police hierarchy would kowtow to some cultural aberrations that are clearly antithetical to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It throws up the nagging question: Could this odious crime have lasted as long had Ese being the child of a renowned politician, governor or legislator? The answer is obvious. And that exposes the smelly underbelly of our lop-sided judicial system, one that tilted in favour of the mighty, in our corruption -riddled society.
We need to remind ourselves that corruption is not only about those who have feathered their own nests from the national till. Any act by anyone that serves the whims and caprices of the self rather than the state; that violates our national ethos, undermines and debases our common laws, or viciously tramples on fellow citizens’ rights amount to corruption. It should not be condoned. We must uphold our common values of respect for the rule of law and the sustainable protection of the rights of all members of the society, more so those at the bottom rung of the ladder.
Efforts should therefore, be geared towards rehabilitating Ese. She has been traumatized. She must not be allowed to grow up with a feeling that our government is not there for her as a protective father-figure. Hers may have attracted global attention but somewhere there in some rural or even urban settings are nameless and voiceless Ezes whose rights have been grossly abused. Some have been trafficked, or coerced into child slavery, prostitution, to trade in hard drugs or forced into terrorism. We must stand up for them.
To do so, justice must be seen to be done. Every religion propagates the sanctity of life and the protection of the rights of every citizen. All those involved in the despicable acts of Ese’s abduction must be fished out and brought to speedy justice. Only that would serve as a deterrence to others and heal Ese’s brutalized soul.
•Baje writes from Lagos