Muslim cleric sentenced to 26 years after forcing Christian teen into Islamic marriage

A federal court in Nigeria sentenced a man
to 26 years in prison after he abducted a
Christian teenager from her home and
forced her into an Islamic marriage in
2015.
A federal high court in Bayelsa State on
Thursday sentenced Yunusa Dahiru for the
abduction of Ese Oruru, according to
Nigerian media outlets.
Oruru was abducted from her mother’s
shop in the Bayelsa state in August 2015 at
the age of 14 by Dahiru.
The child was taken across state lines to
the Muslim-majority Kano state, where she
was allegedly raped, forced to accept
Islam, and married to her captor.
Additionally, her name was changed to
“Aisha,” the name of one of the wives of
Islam’s prophet Muhammad.
Her abduction gained media attention as
her parents raised public awareness.
Months later, state police rescued Oruru in
February 2016. It was revealed that the
child was five months pregnant with her
daughter.
Charles Oruru, Ese’s father, praised the
sentencing decision by the court in an
interview with the independent Nigerian
daily newspaper The Guardian .
“I’m very happy and grateful because I see
that all my suffering is not in vain,” the
father said. “This case will serve as a
deterrent to others who traffic people’s
children. I thank God that truth has
prevailed. I and my family are very happy.”
According to the newspaper, Dahiru was
charged with conspiracy to commit an
abduction in violation of an anti-trafficking
law.
Oruru and his wife say they faced much
harassment in their quest to get their
daughter back.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide,
a nongovernment organization based in the
United Kingdom that operates in over 20
countries, Rose Oruru was insulted and
threatened by the chief of the village in
Kano when she tried to get her daughter
back.
Although the mother petitioned the local
emir for her daughter’s release, her request
was unsuccessful. CSW notes that on two
occasions, the mother was insulted and
assaulted by people in the village as well
as refused access to her daughter.
According to CSW, Ese Oruru’s release
came one day after the Nigerian
newspaper The Punch launched its viral

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Criminal proceedings against Dahiru began
in March 2016 but he was initially let out
on bail. However, he was later rearrested
for failing to appear in court.
“We welcome this conviction and hope it
will mark the beginning of an erosion of
the impunity surrounding these crimes,
deterring potential perpetrators and their
enablers,” CSW Chief Executive Mervyn
Thomas said in a statement.
“It is unacceptable that young girls in
Shari’a states continue to endure multiple
violations of their rights to freedom of
religion or belief, education, parental care
and liberty and security of person, among
others.”
In Nigeria, many girls and young women
have been kidnapped on several different
occasions by different actors like Boko
Haram, Islamic State extremists, radical
Fulani herdsmen and roadside gangs.
While some abductions are for ransom
payments, hundreds of schoolgirls have
been abducted by Islamic extremists in
northeast Nigeria, many of whom were
married off to militants.
“The only difference between these
abductions and those committed by
terrorist factions in north east Nigeria is
that instead of trafficking underage girls to
ungoverned spaces, these abductors
attempt to hide behind traditional
authorities who may have condoned their
actions,” Thomas explained.
“We urge the Nigerian federal authorities to
become more proactive in ensuring the
immediate return of abducted minors to
their families, and to consistently prosecute
anyone implicated in such crimes to the
fullest extent of the law.”
According to Open Doors USA, which
monitors persecution in over 60 countries,
abductions and forced marriages of
Christian girls “happens a lot” in the non-
militant context in Muslim-majority
northern Nigeria.
“There are even cases of Christian girls
who have been abducted from the south
and married off in the north,” an Open
Doors dossier on Nigeria reads.
Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in
the world when it comes to Christian
persecution, according to Open Doors
USA’s 2020 World Watch List.
In March, The Hausa Christians Foundation
reported on how a Christian girl named
Sadiya Amos was able to escape from her
captors and reunite with her family after
she was kidnapped and forced into an
Islamic marriage in January.
Last October, six Christian schoolgirls and
two staff members were abducted from
their school by Fulani radicals in Kaduna
state. They were released nearly a month
later.

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