#FreeEse: Outrage over alleged abduction, forceful marriage of 14-yr-old in Kano

February 29, 2016

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The pathetic story of how 14-year-old Ese Oruru, who was in August 2015, allegedly abducted in Opolo, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, by one Yunusa, who hails from Kano, has continued to elicit outrage on social media among Nigerians.

Vanguard gathered that Ese, who was 13 as at the time of her alleged abduction, was taken to Kano, by Yunusa, where he converted her to Islam and married her. Ese’s parents had since last August made trips to Kano, where they unraveled the plights of their daughter.

The parents said they have involved the police, but efforts to get the Emir of Kano, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, at whose palace the girl is believed to be held to resolve the matter and ensure the return of the 14-year-old to them have proved futile. While her mother was told that Ese had converted to Islam and, therefore, was no longer her daughter, her father was told that his daughter was an 18-year-old adult and not 14, hence she was capable of making decisions for herself.

However, Nigerians, yesterday, took to the social media to launch a campaign #FreeEse, calling for the immediate release of the Urhobo-born teenager, whose mother, Mrs. Rose Oruru, is a food vendor in Opolo, Bayelsa State.