-
…We’ll appeal – Lawyers
Reactions have continued to trail the judgement of the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, against Yunusa Dahiru, popularly known as Yellow.
The court had sentenced Yellow to a 26-year jail term for abducting Ese Oruru on August 2015 from her parents’ house in Yenagoa, to Kano State and forcefully married her. She was 13 years at that time.
Mr Charles Oruru, Ese’s father, expressed satisfaction at the judgement, saying it would serve as a deterrent to paedophiles in the country.
He said, “I am very happy and grateful because I see that my suffering is not in vain. This case will serve as deterrent to others who traffic people’s children. I thank God that truth has prevailed.
Similarly, a child rights advocate and chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Sagbama branch, Dise Sheila Ogbise Erhisere, expressed happiness that though the justice was delayed, it was not denied. She added that even if the convict appeals the judgement, the prosecutors would be ready.
She said, “However, constitutionally, the convict has the right to appeal the judgement if he feels he is not satisfied. So the next move is for the prosecution to be prepared.
“I salute the parents of the victim, Mr and Mrs Oruru, for their commitment to the cause of justice. We have other cases, where after a couple of years, parents of the victim would have been cowed or compromised. But they were available and provided every necessary evidence the prosecution needed.’’
To get justice for Yunusa, who hails from Kura Local Government Area of Kano State, a 10-man committee was set up by his kinsmen.
Speaking on behalf of his parents, the chairman of the committee, Bashir Uba Adam said, “The court took cognizance of the evidences before it and gave a verdict.
“However, if you look at the judgement you would see that Yellow did not receive the justice he deserved, taking into consideration that right from when he was remanded in prison while awaiting trial, he faced a lot of challenges, including unfair treatment, just because he is not a Christian.
“Secondly, we are aware that the Bayelsa State Government and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) have interest in the matter and they were fully involved. For instance, Yunusa’s counsel told us that whenever his case was up for hearing, his file was not kept in the court; rather, it was always brought from the Bayelsa State Ministry for Justice.
“Similarly, all the charges of trafficking, forced conversion and rape put against him were not true because anyone that followed the incident from its inception knew that that was not what actually happened.
“We have already engaged a team of lawyers, and we have already initiated the appeal process. We are also working with some human right organisations to ensure that justice is ensured in this case,” he said.
Also speaking with Daily Trust on Sunday, counsel to Yellow, Olaosebikan Kayode, said he had been instructed to file an appeal, and he had applied for a copy of the judgement in order to start the appeal process.
Also, Comrade A. A. Haruna Ayagi, the executive director, Human Rights Network, Nigeria, said if the charges of child trafficking, forced conversion to another religion and sexual exploitation labelled against Yunusa Yellow were true, then the 26-year sentence was justified.
“Right from the beginning, we were part of the matter when Yellow came with the girl to his parents, who took the matter to the head of their ward, then village head, district head, up to the then Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, who followed due process to ensure that the girl was not forced to accept Islam. She said she had agreed to accept Islam, without any force or intimidation. And as you know, the Nigerian constitution has guaranteed freedom of religion and movement to any part of the country,’’ he said.
But after that incident, some organisations accused the former emir of forcing the girl to convert to Islam, as well as marry Yunusa. When the emir realised that there was a deliberate attempt to tarnish his image, he referred the matter to the police for proper investigation. As a result of this, the boy was taken to Abuja, where there was a press conference, during which it was revealed that there were three- count charges against him.
“Having known what transpired in the beginning, we decided to key into the matter to ensure that justice was done. We were able to secure his release on bail. As time went by, Senator Kabiru Gaya took over the matter and set up a committee to resolve the issue. But unfortunately, he abandoned it along the way; and that is what brought us to where we are today,” Ayagi narrated.
He further said his organisation was mobilising a team of lawyers to appeal the judgement to ensure that justice is done.
Yunusa’s family are, however, disturbed about the outcome of the verdict. When contacted, the father of Yunusa Yellow, Malam Dahiru Bala Tofa said the family was disturbed by the conviction, as the outcome of the verdict wasn’t what they were expected.
“We were expecting him to come back and be free and all of sudden, we heard that he was convicted and sentenced to many years in prison, we are seriously disturbed by the development,” he said.
Malam Dahiru went further to debunk allegations against his son, “He did not commit what he is being accused of. I think they were not happy that the girl had converted to Islam and that is why they attached all those accusations, so the conviction is not justifiable,” he added.
On their next line of action, Malam Tofa said, “I am a poor man, I am currently battling with how to fend for my family and that of Yunus, remember he has his own family here with us, so there is nothing I can do.
He noted that with the little he had, the four years of Yunusa’s trial have exhausted everything and he had nothing left now.
“The only thing I can do, is to pray to Almighty Allah for his intervention in the matter, and we are encouraged with the movement of some groups and individuals who are willing to come to our aid. I pray to Almighty Allah to assist them in the course and to reward them abundantly,” he said.
Also speaking, Barrister Huwaila Muhammad Ibrahim, who stood for Yunusa at the inception of the court proceedings, told Daily Trust on Sunday , that she was surprised that she was wrongly reported to have dropped the case, something which she said she read in the papers and didn’t know where it emanated from.
“I am still following the case and as far as I am concerned, the judgment was not justifiable, it is too stringent, but it is good to note that the person who passed the judgment is a judge who is a king in his court and there is no one to tell him what to do or what not to do, but honestly, the judgment is too stringent and we are going to appeal it.
As I speak with you, we have already applied for the judgment and the record of proceedings for us to prepare for our appeal, and I am sure they must have collected it by now, we are going to study it and file our appeal accordingly,” she said.
