Rescued Ese Oruru speaks out, says she wants to remain a Muslim with her lover in Kano

PremiumTimes is exclusively reporting that today, Ese Oruru, who was allegedly kidnapped from Bayelsa State to Kano, said she was not interested in reuniting with her family, denying reports that she was abducted from her home in Bayelsa State and that she is 13.


In an exclusive audio recording obtained by PREMIUM TIMES today, she also said she eloped with her lover to Kano in order to convert to Islam. Her words: “My name is Aisha Chuwas. I am 17-year-old. I came here to be a Muslim and I will stay here."

The recording appeared a conversation between Miss Oruru and a police interrogator in Kano. A human rights lawyer, Huwaila Mohammed, who was given access to the girl at the Zonal Police Headquarters in Kano, said upon interrogation, she understood the girl was never forced to convert to Islam.

Mohammed said “I was there to protect her rights. When I approached her initially, she refused to talk to me. Later she opened up to me. She is very defiant. She told me she was born in February 1999. I personally wanted her to reunite with her family, but surprisingly she asked me to tell her mother that she will never return to Bayelsa."

Ms. Mohammed, who also spoke with Miss Oruru’s lover, Yunusa, said upon interrogation, she established that he is 18-year-old man “not anywhere above 20”. “I was surprised when I saw a very small boy. He is just 18-year old. I was enraged thinking that it was an old man involved in the saga. From the way I see it, they eloped not because of religion but love,” she said.