•Dad, mum worried by life in police custody
Parents of Ese Oruru, the 14-year-old girl who was allegedly abducted in Bayelsa State and forced into marriage in Kano, have decried her absence from school.
The aggrieved parents said they were no longer comfortable with their daughter’s continuous stay in police protective custody, which they described as uncomfortable for a nursing mother and her baby.
The Federal High Court, sitting in Yenagoa, the state capital, yesterday adjourned Ese’s suit till December 8.
But the parents described this as ironic, saying it denied their daughter her freedom while the accused is on bail.
The parents complained that Ese and her baby were not properly catered for.
Ese has been at the Police Officers’ Mess in Yenagoa, even after she gave birth to a baby girl on May 25.
Yunusa Dahiru, her alleged abductor, has been standing trial at the court for criminal abduction, illicit sex, sexual exploitation and unlawful carnal knowledge of the minor.
Ese’s father Mr Charles Oruru said he was sad that her daughter and her baby were confined to the officers’ mess.
The distraught father noted that Ese was supposed to be in school, having lost a year to the saga.
He said: “My daughter has been 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 State Government, Nigeria and the world to come to our aide.
“Nowadays, without education, one is going to nowhere. So, she is not doing anything in their custody while the accused moves freely and she is suffering there.
“I have called on the Delta State Govrnment to assist because I have five children and Ese is the second to the last child. So, my state should come to my family aide.”
Also, Ese’s mother, Rose, said her daughter lacked the proper care expected of a nursing mother.
The angry mother said the expected psychological attention and nutritional care available in homely environment were missing at the police mess.
She said: “People from Bayelsa have been assisting us; even the police officers. We want to leave there to our house because the place (Police Officers’ Mess) is not good to stay and bring up a new born.
“We are just abandoned in a room; we are not even allowed to go out. We stay with our trash bin, which smells. We and the new born are compelled to breathe the offensive smell.
“So, the world should note that we are being marginalised for no reason as Yunusa is still owing me some money after taking my daughter to Kano to impregnate her.”