Religion, Kano Emirate Council and child slavery By Rotimi Fasan

HIS space was slated for an issue entirely different from what you have before you now. I had been mulling over what to write about for two days and had yet to finally resolve on a particular topic by Friday last week. But by Saturday morning, I’d come to the conclusion that the topic I had chosen to write on was the right one for the week. But I still had not put anything down in writing by the time I saw the front page report of Sunday Punch on the fourteen year old Bayelsa girl, Ese Oruru. Ese was allegedly abducted from her mother’s trading stall in Bayelsa State and taken to Kano where she was coerced into marriage by one Yinusa, a wood seller turned commercial tricycle rider. Ese, her abductors (and that’s what we must continue to call Yinusa and others supporting him who didn’t see anything wrong in suborning a minor into marriage without the knowledge of her parents) reportedly claimed, had converted to Islam and is now known as Aisha. The abduction took place last August, which means that as we speak the young girl has been away from home for six months! The Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is said to be very much in the know of this case.