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Saturday, March 5, 2016

Ese Oruru: Arewa Youths vows to stop further abduction for marriage

The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ( AYCF)  has vowed to  stop further  abduction for marriage in the region.

The group made the remark in reaction to the public outcry generated by the abduction of  Ese Oruru, a 14-year-old  girl by 25-year- old Inuwa Dahiru Bala (otherwise known as Yunusa) from Bayelsa State to Kano State.

The AYCF  said perpetrators of such crimes should be made to face the full wrath of the law.


In a telephone chat with The Nation, Comrade Shetima Yerima, the president of  the group said: “The issue has been politicized with many people saying different things.  Despite this, the action is immoral. No parent would ever be happy to have an underage child taken away in that manner.  Our attention has been drawn to the incident and we have taken it up as one of our projects to begin massive sensitization of people in our region against this kind of thing. We condemn it and stand to say that whoever does such should face the full wrath of the law. “

Islamic clerics have however described the abductor’s action as an unislamic practice

One of the clerics, Imam Abdullahi Shuaib, Lagos Cordinator Conference of Islamic  Organisation described such position as unfortunate, saying: “ It is unfortunate because a number of Nigerians  don’t understand the position of Islam on an issue like this. Islam does not encourage such thing.  The action is criminal and never an Islamic agenda. It also shows the gravity of moral loss in the society. Having a conjugal relationship with a minor is a sin against God, humanity and the society at large.  We need to do a damage contro here by getting medical experts to assist the girl to carry the pregnancy safely.”

His position was corroborated by  Dr Luqman Abdurraheem, National Amir of  The Muslim Congress (TMC) . he said: “ In Islam, abduction is illegal. To now abduct  and marry the victim is a higher illegality. The authorities in Kano ought to report the matter to the police. They claimed that they did but I doubt it.  The man’s action is very wrong. It paints a bad picture of Muslims in that part of the country. To marry in Islam, you must get the consent of the parents.  You cannot claim to have married any woman when you don’t have the consent of the parents. “

The incident in the view of Dr Tajudeen Yusuf, a senior lecturer at University of Lagos State is getting too much attention than it deserves.  “ I don’t think the attention we ae giving this issue is worth it.  Yinusa’s action cannot and should not be associated with Islam. It should also not be seen as a cultural thing.  Anybody could have done it.

“What were the parents when she was taken away. How soon did they become aware that she was missing and did they report to the police? It is a messy affair. I will reprimand the parents for keeping quiet all along. Yinusa on his part is a criminal,” he stated.

  On his part, Mallam Saheed Ashafa, the  Amir, Muslim Students Society  of Nigeria (MSSN), Lagos State area unit opined that the truth about the story has not really been unraveled.  “There is so much discrepancy from what all the parties concerned are saying. Consequently, it is not proper for one to pronounce judgment on any of them.

But if we are to take it from the face value, the action of Yinusa is wrong. Appropriate sanction should be meted out to him. The youths have a lot of lessons to learn from the incident.  It reinforces the need for every young man to follow due process in issues of marriage.

“ It is wrong to force somebody to marry you. It is ethically and morally wrong. Parents too also have good lessons to learn from it because Ese’s  parents from all indication are guilty of negligence for the child to have gone out without their knowledge.”

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