ARUKAINO UMUKORO writes about his experience covering Ese Oruru’s abduction and eventual release
SUNDAY PUNCH’s explosive cover
story on February 28, 2016, titled, “PUNCH launches ‘Free Ese’ campaign:
Kano man steals, forcefully marries 14-year-old Bayelsa Girl,” sparked
national outrage, and forced the authorities, including the
Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, to release Ese Oruru
immediately.
Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar
Ganduje, and his Bayelsa State counterpart, Seriake Dickson, also waded
into the matter as soon as the story hit the newsstands.
The next day, Monday, the Nigerian media
– traditional and online – boiled over with righteous indignation at
what many felt was injustice done to a teenager and her family.
Aside from the report, SUNDAY PUNCH’s
#FreeEse campaign went viral online and on social media. In 24 hours,
it ensured that Ese was released to the Kano State Police command on
Monday, February 29, for onward transfer to the Force Headquarters,
Abuja.
On her release, PUNCH launched another hashtag, #JusticeForEse, which continued trending that week. PUNCH
gave Ese’s story the most coverage daily in its print and online
version throughout the week leading to her abductor, Yunusa Dahiru’s
prosecution.
Early Tuesday morning, on March 1, Ese’s
mum, Rose, at about 7am said, “I am exploding with happiness,” she told
me in Pidgin English, after she was informed about her daughter’s
release by a police officer in Bayelsa at about 6am. Ese’s father, Mr.
Charles Oruru, had already gone to the police station to get further
information.
Later that morning, I arrived Port
Harcourt, Rivers State, en route to Bayelsa. I stayed in touch with
Ese’s mum on the telephone throughout her road trip to Abuja, in company
with officers from the Bayelsa State Police command.
On my arrival to Yenagoa, I met a warm
welcome from the Oruru family at their modest residence in Opolo area.
They spoke of their anxiety and hopes in the last seven months since Ese
was abducted in April.
By Tuesday night, their hopes saw the light of day. Ese’s mum was finally reunited with her long lost daughter.
Ese was already pregnant for Yunusa, her abductor.
A few minutes earlier, the eldest of the
Oruru children, Pat, had called me excitedly to tell me she had finally
spoken to her sister. Ese’s siblings were overjoyed.
That night, I also spoke with Ese for
the first time. I was as excited and joyful about her release as her
siblings. It was a joy that resonated across ethnicities, religions, and
regions in Nigeria when the news broke in the media.
On Wednesday evening, March 2, under
heavy police security, Ese and her mum were driven to Yenagoa straight
from their arrival at the Port Harcourt airport.
Following her reunion with her mother in
Abuja on Tuesday, Ese was reunited with her father the next day on
their arrival at the Police Officers Mess in Yenagoa.
“When I finally saw her, she greeted me
and I hugged her. Finally, I see my daughter! That meant everything to
me, thank you!” he exclaimed happily to me.
Later that Wednesday night, Ese’s older sisters – Pat and Faith — got their chance of seeing her. It was a joyous reunion.
Throughout the night, the Orurus
residence in Opolo area, Yenagoa, was full of activities. At the
mother’s shop, family members prepared banga soup and starch
and other local dishes to herald her arrival. When the parents returned
from the Officers Mess, family members, neighbours and well-wishers
welcomed them with joyous singing, dancing and merriment, which lasted
until the wee hours of Thursday morning.
Lucky the youngest, said he had never seen his mother so happy since Ese was abducted seven months ago.
The next day, Thursday, Ese’s brothers — Onome and Lucky — got to see her too for the first time. Lucky was the most excited.
Onome said he was relieved and happy to
see his immediate younger sister again. “I did not want to ask her too
many questions about the issue, I was just so happy to see her,” he
said, misty eyed.
The Orurus’ joy over seeing their long lost sibling obviously knew no bounds. Ese was also very happy to see her family again.
Same Thursday, Ese and the Orurus met
with Bayelsa State governor at the State Government House, journalists
were literally bundled into the press room and shielded from getting a
close up view of the teenager and her parents.
Later, after the private meeting,
standing beside Ese’s parents— who looked exhausted that hot afternoon,
the governor pledged the state government’s support for the Orurus and
said the government was ready to “support and stand by Ese, now, and in
the days, months and years to come.”
On a few occasions, I went with Ese’s
parents and siblings to the Police Officers Mess in Yenagoa, but I was
refused entry. Even the Orurus were screened by the police officer at
the gate. He had a list that contained the parents’ names and that of
their four children (aside from Ese). “Sorry, only her immediate family
are allowed to see her,” one of the officers politely apologised to me.
Later on Friday, after my umpteenth
visit to the Orurus’ residence in Opolo, one of the members of the Hausa
community asked me, with a tinge of genuine sadness and guilt, if Ese
had arrived yet.
At some points, prior to her release, I
became the link between both parents and siblings when they needed more
information about her homecoming to Bayelsa or the mum’s whereabouts.
A week later, on Tuesday, March 8,
Yunusa Dahiru, aka Yellow, was arraigned at the Federal High Court
sitting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on five counts bordering on
abduction, coercion, seduction into illicit sex, unlawful carnal
knowledge and sexual exploitation of a minor.
At Ese’s home church, Distinguished
People’s Assembly, on Sunday, March 6, her Sunday School teacher and
friends spoke of their joy on hearing about her release and Yunusa’s
prosecution. They said they had missed her and were looking forward to
seeing her again.
The message of the pastor, Bishop Dotimi
Egbegi, hinged on faith and the infallibility of God’s word to His
children. “This is your week of covenant manifestations,” he preached.
The wife of the pastor, had described the teenager as a ‘destiny child.’
Last Thursday, a delegation from the
Delta State government arrived Bayelsa to pay Ese and her family a
visit. They, like the Bayelsa State government, promised to support the
teenager and her family.
Her father said, the pregnancy nothwithstanding, he hopes his daughter becomes one of the most important women in the world.
Last week, Ese’s siblings moved the
belongings left at their mother’s shop, including the small television
set and chairs, to their Opolo residence.
It literally marked the end to an eerie
chapter that had defined their lives, as Yunusa, Ese’s abductor, was a
regular customer at her mother’s food stall.
Despite the pregnancy and other issues
that may crop up in the coming weeks and months, it has also opened the
promise of a new beginning for Ese, her parents and siblings.
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