Dahiru Yunusa, the man standing trial in the abduction of 14-year-old Ese Oruru has been released on bail after meeting the conditions set by a federal high court in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State.
Yunusa’s release comes after he spent four months in prison remand and he is reportedly heading to his home state of Kano.
Punch reports that Yunusa, known as Yellow, was able to make bail after some of the conditions were relaxed as the defense team had approached Justice Ajiya Nganjiwa requesting for some terms to be changed to enable him meet his bail conditions.
His bail was earlier set at N3 million only with two sureties in like sum who must be residents within the jurisdiction of the court, Bayelsa, as well as one (compulsory) being a title holder in Bayelsa. The last condition was changed include a traditional ruler from any community in the country.
But, Punch reports that “contrary to speculation that no Bayelsa indigene was willing to stand surety for the suspect due to the ethnic and religious sentiments being whipped up, the person who eventually fulfilled the court conditions was from Bayelsa”.
The Trent was the first newspaper to report the abduction of Ese Oruru from her home in Bayelsa. Her parents had traced her to the palace of the Emir of Kano where she had been taken in a scheme that included forced conversion to Islam and marriage to her abductor.
Following a massive outcry that followed a social media campaign started by Punch, a week after our report, Oruru was eventually released to the Nigerian police along with Yunusu. He was arrested and taken to Bayelsa where charges were filed against him.
Yunusu, who admitted to impregnating Ese Oruru while she was in captivity in Kano, is facing a five-count charge for bothering on the abduction of a minor, the use of deception and coercion illicit intercourse, sexual exploitation and unlawful carnal knowledge of a minor.
The trial was adjourned to September 13, 2016 by Justice Ngajiwa to “give enough time for the cross-examination of Ese Oruru by Yunusa’s legal team”. The judge had ruled that Ese Oruru, being a minor, would give her testimony in secret.
Ms. Oruru was 5-months pregnant when she was rescued from Kano. She gave birth to a baby girl on May 26, 2016. She is under the custody of the Bayelsa State government.
