My son’s name is Inuwa, not Yunusa–Suspect’s father

From Desmond Mgboh, Kano

SEVEN months after she was abducted from Yena­goa, Bayelsa State, 14 year-old old Ese Oruru is pregnant.
She was abducted by In­uwa Dahiru Bala (Yunusa) and taken to Tofa Village in Kano.
Destiny intervened on Tuesday when Police res­cued her from Inuwa’s grip.
But, the deed had been done. Ese is already preg­nant.
It was gathered that upon medical examina­tion, police discovered that she was pregnant.
Upon certifying her medical status and emo­tional state, it was learnt that this informed the de­cision by the police to take her back to Bayelsa by air.
Meanwhile, Alhaji Da­hiru Bala, father of Inuwa, has corrected the impres­sion that his son’s name is Yunusa.
He insisted his son’s name is Inuwa Dahiru Bala and also asked secu­rity agencies to release his son, insisting Inuwa is in­nocent of any crime.
Alhaji Bala told some reporters, who traced him to his family home in Tofa village, in Kuru Local Government Area in Kano State, on Wednesday, that his son did not abduct the girl as is widely believed. Rather, he said the girl fol­lowed his son to Kano on her own volition and out of love.
14 year old Miss Ese Or­uru was allegedly abduct­ed to Kano some months ago and subsequently con­verted to Islam, ahead of a planned wedding ceremo­ny to Inuwa Bala Dahiru .
The abducted girl, it was gathered, stayed in the custody of her “husband to be” in Tofa town for close to six months.
In his response, village head of Tofa village (Da­gaci Tofa), Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, condemned the abduction saga, and said Inuwa has smeared the name of Tofa community and the state in general.
“Tofa people are not happy with this develop­ment. We condemn the action of our son, Inuwa. It was wrong for Inuwa to have brought the girl back to this village after the Emir had instructed that the girl be returned to her people.
“It is not in our charac­ter to do this kind of thing. Inuwa’s character is un­Islamic and totally unac­ceptable to the people of Tofa village, who have high regard for our religion, for constituted authorities and for the revered throne of Sarkin Kano, Sanusi Mu­hammad 11.
Speaking on his role in the saga, he recalled that, “ they came here some­time last year; and Inuwa brought her to me. When he told me what he wanted to do—that is, getting mar­ried to the girl; I told him I don’t have the power to join them as husband and wife. “So, I decided to take them to the Hakimi (District Head) of Tofa. The Hakimi took the issue to the Liman (Islamic scholar) of our vil­lage, where the conversion of the girl from Christiani­ty to Islam was performed.
“From there, we headed straight to the Emir’s pal­ace to intimate him on the development; but unfor­tunately, the Emir was not around at that time we ar­rived.
So, we met the then Wambai Kano, Alhaji Ab­bas Sanusi,(who is now the Galadiman Kano).
“He instructed us to take them to the Sharia’h Com­mission. So, at the Sharia’h Commission, the issue was further discussed the par­ents of the girl were invited to Sharia’h Commission.
“The parents wanted to take the girl back to Bay­elsa, but they could not. Then, the next day, being a Friday, we went back to the Emir’s palace and we were asked to come back on Monday (after the week­end).
“When we got back to the Emir’s palace on that Monday, we waited a long time for the representa­tives from the Sharia’h Commission, but they de­layed us to the extent that the Emir, Sanusi Muham­mad 11, got tired and left for other official engage­ments.”
“However, the Emir delegated the Wambai Kano to inform us that the girl, being less than 16 years, should not be given out for marriage without the consent of her parents.
“The Wambai Kano also gave us a letter to the As­sistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 1. We delivered the letter and the message that the girl be returned to Bayelsa where her parents live.
So, after delivering the letter and the two children to the AIG, that was where I stopped playing any role, believing that the AIG would handle the matter as instructed by the Emir.