*Inside details of how frustration in police protective custody forced family to relocate from Bayelsa
From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Until her parents, Mr Charles and Mrs Rose Oruru voiced out at the last Court sitting, many were unaware of the frustration Ese Oruru, the teenager that was abducted to Kano and later rescued by the Police, was facing in Protective Custody at the Police Officers Mess, Yenagoa, where she has been kept since her return to Yenagoa on March 2, 2016.
During an interview with the media, Ese’s parents did not mince words to state the ordeal she, her mother and her baby were going through in the one room allocated to them at the officers mess.
“My daughter has been yearning and even crying to go back to school as her classmates are now ahead of her, she has lost a whole year to this saga and she is still in police protective custody while the accused is enjoying freedom on bail. I am begging the Delta government, Nigerians and the world at large to come to our aid. Nowadays, without education one is going to nowhere, so she is not doing anything in their custody, while the accused moves freely, she is suffering there. I have called on the Delta government to assist because I have five children and Ese is the second to the last child, so my state should come to my aid”, Mr Oruru said.
Mrs Rose Oruru’s concerns revolve around the newborn baby as she believes the environment is not conducive to raise a child. “People from Bayelsa have been assisting us and even the police officers, we want to leave there to our house because the place (Police Officers Mess) is not a good place to stay and bring up a new born baby. We are just abandoned in a room that we are not even allowed to go out, we stay with our trash bin, which smells. We and the new born baby are compelled to breathe in the offensive odour”
Investigations revealed that the statements from the Orurus shocked the Police because the parents were the ones that actually demanded for the protective custody to ward off any threat against Ese when she returned to Bayelsa.
“Honestly we were at a loss over the statements credited to the Orurus. They were the ones that wanted the protective custody and now that they do not want again, I believe something is being worked out for them”, a police source said.
Saturday Sun findings indicated that aside the discomfort being suffered at the Police Officers Mess, Ese stampeded her parents into leaving the officers mess as she was gradually slipping into depression triggered by boredom.
Her father in an interview disclosed that Ese, her baby and her mother have relocated to an area near Ughelli in Delta state. He said the body language of the Police suggested that they were tired of the family staying at the officers mess.
“When someone is tired of you, you would know from the body language. Yes, we were the ones that asked for police protection to protect Ese and later the baby from plans to steal her. Even while she was at the police officers mess, there were plans to kidnap the baby there. The police had to relocate Ese and her mother from the one they first stayed to another one. The truth however is that the place is not conducive. At a time we had to call on Mr Peter Ogunyanwo, the former Commissioner of Police who was here when she was brought back to Bayelsa before the police were able to attend to our needs. They got tired and we understand because they have tried.”
According to him “Aside that, the protective custody became uncomfortable for Ese, the child and my wife. One of the days I went to visit them the smell from the trash can was terrible, Ese also refused to eat and was crying everyday that she wants to go back to school. Her friends were calling her and it made it worse. She had nowhere to go, she wakes up in the morning to eat, and wait for lunch, she could not go out, she could not receive visitors, and it became hard for her to take. We had no option than to grant her wish. We had to apply to the Police to release her. The family and the Child Protection Network (CPN) wrote the application to the Inspector- General of Police in Abuja and after a process, it was approved. My family has formally relocated to that Ughelli side so that Ese and the others can go back to school. I am the only one here now”
Mr Oruru who confirmed that the Bayelsa state government actually rented a two-bed room flat for the family, said they could not stay there because of threat, even as he called for more assistance from the Delta and Bayelsa state governments for the family.
“The Bayelsa state government tried their best. My home state government, Delta sent representatives to us when Ese came back. Both state governments need to do more for us. My wife had to let go of the restaurant business because she had to face the issue of Ese head long from August 2015 and you know Ese gave birth in May so she had to take care of the baby. My own business is also down so the governments need to come to our aid because the children have to go to school”
Police, CSOs react
The Bayelsa Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Asinim Butwats confirmed the release of Ese Oruru from the police protective custody to the family. “They wrote an application that they want her to leave and the police released them. And honestly I don’t even know where she is now”, he stressed.
Mr Kizito Andah of the Kindling Hope Across Nations Initiative (KHANI), which is a member of the Child Protection Network also confirmed that Ese Oruru had left Yenagoa.
The Chairman of the Civil Liberty Organisation in Bayelsa, Chief Nengi James in an interview said leaving Bayelsa was the best thing for the Oruru family because the police had started treating them like prisoners.
“It was part of our (CLO) recommendation to the family that she should leave Bayelsa because of the psychological and emotional trauma she has been facing since she returned. She was also under threat and it was only natural that she leaves this environment. More over, the police were treating them as if they were prisoners and the parents complained to us. The Bayelsa state government has tried but some of their other promises on the education of the girl were not forthcoming. The Delta state government has disappointed the family. They have not fulfilled their promises and this is very disappointing.”
Concern over legal representation
The Oruru family and Uhrobo Progressive Union (UPU) are also being frustrated over the failure of the police to allow a lawyer from the UPU join the prosecution team on behalf of the family. Chief Albert Akpomudje ( SAN) who also doubles as the national secretary of UPU was drafted to join the case by the Union.
Akpomudje on his first appearance in Court on April 19, 2016 told Justice Hyeladzira Ejiya Nganjiwa that the UPU which is out to protect the interest of all Uhrobo wants to beef up the prosecution team and it would seek the consent of the Inspector- General of Police to join the prosecution team.
In an interview, he expressed optimism that he would be allowed to take over the prosecution in the interest of justice. “My interest in this case, like I told the Court, is that anywhere the interest of an indigene of Uhrobo is affected, it is the responsibility of the UPU to protect that interest. The prosecution has done very well, I thought I was going to take over but the prosecution did well. We shall apply to the IGP to allow me join the prosecution team”, he said.
Six months after the application was made to Mr Solomon Arase, the then IGP, Saturday Sun investigations revealed that the police is yet to give the consent for Akpomudje to join the prosecution. Mr Oruru said the situation is so discouraging that Akpomudje might not appear in Court again until the police grants their request.