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.