By Denrele Animasaun

“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief” —Frantz Fanon

Ese-Oruru

In the last couple of days, an England footballer,  Adam Johnson, aged 28, was found guilty of sexual activity with a girl aged 15.  In UK, the age of consent is 16 and the law takes it seriously when an adult interferes with a minor under 16. This carries a hefty prison sentence and the convicted offender is placed on the sex offender register for life.

Life as a sex offender is like wearing a scarlet letter and everyone knows your crime and not many are given a second chance once they are labeled.  So, imagine the shame and the isolation. The UK society and the law is very clear; it is very protective in safeguarding the interest of the young person. So, for those who feel that they can get away committing crime against young people, they will eventually be found out.  No matter how long the crime has been committed, the offender can still be convicted.  This has been possible because the country demanded that law and the enforcement agencies take action. This can only be possible when there is a dedicated and understanding authority.

The story in many Nigerian newspapers and the social media, recently, is about a minor, who was abducted by an adult. Depending on the news you read, the young girl is 13 or 14. Whatever, the case, she is a minor and she was removed from her home in Bayelsa and was later found in the company of the young man in Kano.

Call me a cynic, the big interest was only such, because of where she came from and where she was found. This sudden concerns were mostly not genuine; many showing contempt and rudeness.  They do so as it serves their own ulterior agenda.  They take to bashing Muslims, Northern and Southern.  This is the pattern of these people and it serves their hatred and narrow mindedness.

There are some people who have no gumption, neither respect nor integrity.  The access to social media has brought out the good, the bad and the ugly.  So, this is not surprising and they rather throw the proverbial baby away with the bath water.

Their intolerance for anything that is out of their way of thinking is glaring, as always, such thing that is out of their way of thinking is also not entertained.  In fact, they often go on the war path and make veiled threats behind the screen.

The victim here is the young girl and this seems to be lost in the din of the media trolls. The sad fact is that, child abduction is rife in Nigeria and it is known in major European cities that Nigerians are leading in human trafficking.  No one seems care. On the contrary, any news on abductions is merely news fodder in Nigeria and many of us know it is so.

It is little wonder these cases do not get similar special.  Yet, over thousands of young girls have been trafficked across Europe to service prostitution rings. We need to take a long and hard look at the way we react and ensure that we use our voice for good, regardless of what part of Nigeria what has attracted our reactions comes from. The fact is that these are Nigerians, after all.  Let us stop this heinous crime!

In the case of Ese, the story remains patchy and disjointed and it seems that some of the main players are poor historians.  Now that the Gender and Child Protection Unit is involved, maybe, they might make head or tail of what actually went on and apportion blame where necessary.

This young girl would need some support to deal with trauma of separation and the impact of the relationship that she has forged with her abductor. There is a phenomenon called Stockholm syndrome, where the abducted becomes sympathetic towards the abductor.

The extra attention that this young child has been exposed to will traumatise her for sometimes after the whole circus has packed up and has left town. This young girl will suffer without proper support.

As for Yunusa, the adult who was responsible for her disappearance, kidnapping, endangerment and sexual abuse of a minor, he will have a lot to answer for. That would be job for the police.

The main outcome is that the girl has been found safe and well but it seems that this is lost on those who want to use their warped views to whip up their own religious and tribal hatred for their own agenda.

Although, father of Yunusa Yellow, Dahiru Bala, confirmed that his son had told him of his plan to come home with Ese sometime in 2015, he however tried to dissuade his son from going ahead with such plan.

His words: “When he told me about the plan to come with a girl from Bayelsa to Kano, I asked him not to, but he insisted that Aisha had become a Muslim, fell in love with him and wanted to marry him. I still warned him against coming with her.”

So it is clear that Yunusa was known to the Orurus’ clan.  It is worrying that the two may have had relationship prior to the abduction. This 13 or 14-year-old was removed from her family and for a long period without, I can only presume, her parents consent.

This is a capital offence but let’s be frank, this kind of heinous behaviour is more common than we all care to admit. In fact, it is common in some places to marry off minors. This is across the country and we all know young girls who are taken out of schools, hawking, working as maids and routinely, sexually, physically and verbally abused by their charges.  So for those hypocrites, you are part of the problem.

This young girl is way too young to know what love is, talk less of running away with a grown up man. Apparently, the young girl had threatened to kill herself if she could not be with Yunusa. It seems they had some kind of relationship prior to them travelling together to Kano. As the story unfolds, it seems that the young girl is very spirited but impressionable girl.  I mean, this girl should have been in school and not have been in the company of young men.  It seems that it is permissible that this young girl has been playing house way before her time of maturity.  Is this what her parents had wanted for their daughter?  To be married young, have babies before her body is ready, she is more prone to miscarriages, her body becoming damaged, not given opportunity to complete her education and settling for a life of penury and subjugation.

Mr. Bala said while he had strictly opposed his son’s decision to come to Kano with Miss Oruru, his son informed him that the girl had threatened to commit suicide if she was not allowed to travel with Yunusa to Kano.  He said Ese decided to travel because he was afraid Yunusa was getting married to another person in Kano.

“Still, I warned him against coming with her,” the father said.Surprisingly, the boy called me the following day to announce his arrival with Aisha, saying they were on their way to my house.”

The father was right to seek advice first from the head of his village and the Emir.  He said, “On hearing this, I then quickly rushed to our village head to inform him about the development. The village head then said I should take them to his house immediately after arrival”.