The parents of Ese Oruru, the 14-year-old girl who was abducted and
impregnated by one Yunusa Dahiru, who took her to Kano, have alleged
that there were plans to steal their granddaughter, by some young men.
The development came barely six months after Ese was rescued and reunited with her loved ones.
Her
parents raised the alarm in an interview with Sunday PUNCH on Saturday
that there have been persistent threats by some people to take away
their teenage daughter’s three-month-old baby girl.
They explained that their fear was based on recent events, one of which included an assault to one of Ese’s siblings.
Ese
mother, Rose, said, “Towards the end of July, a man traced us from the
court to the Police
Officers’ Mess in Yenagoa (Bayelsa State capital).
We later overheard him talking in Hausa language to someone on the
telephone that he had located the place where Ese and her baby were
staying.
“He said that they don’t want the baby to grow up with
‘these people,’ meaning us. My daughter ran to us when she heard that. I
later sent my son to buy sachet water and he told us when he returned
that he also saw the same man standing outside.
“I later saw this
same man walking back and forth outside the officers’ mess, and he was
still talking on the phone. His movements were suspicious. Since then,
we have been living in fear.”
Ese’s mother added that the same
man was with Ese’s alleged abductor, in the court premises during one of
the proceedings, wearing a red cap.
She also said one of her children was assaulted recently while on a commercial motorcycle by some unknown persons.
She
said, “The men sounded like they were Hausas; they asked her if she was
going to the house the ‘government had paid for them.’ I didn’t know
how they knew that. Before my daughter could rush into a tricycle, these
men forcefully took away some of her belongings and the food she was
bringing for Ese and the baby.”
The Orurus said they reported the
separate incidents to the Bayelsa State Police Commissioner, who then
ordered that the security around the Officer’s Mess be beefed up.
The
number of police officers guarding the premises has since reduced, the
family said. “This is why I am even more afraid now.” the mother told
our correspondent.
“With this incident, I am afraid anything can
happen, and I don’t want any of my daughters to be kidnapped again,”
Ese’s father, Charles, said.
The Police Public Relations Officer,
Bayelsa State Command, Asinim Butswat, in a text message sent to our
correspondent, said the state police command “had not received any
report of threat to the family.”
The Executive Director, Kindling Hope Across Nations Initiative, Mr. Kizito Andah, said the police should act on the allegation.
KHAN Initiative had taken on Ese Oruru’s case and advocated for her release after they had been informed by a neighbour.
Following
a SUNDAY PUNCH campaign on February 28 against her abduction, Ese,
whose name had been changed to Aisha Chuwas, was eventually rescued by
the police.
The teenager was on Tuesday, March 1, reunited with
her mother in Abuja, and then with her family members in Yenagoa,
Bayelsa, on Wednesday, March 2.
Source: Punch
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