- I will never return to Bayelsa
A teenager, who was allegedly kidnapped from Bayelsa State to Kano, Ese Oruru, said on Monday she was not interested in reuniting with her family, denying reports that she was abducted from her home in Bayelsa State.
In an exclusive audio recording obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Monday, the girl also said she eloped with her lover to Kano in order to convert to Islam.
“My name is Aisha Chuwas. I am 17-year-old. I came here to be a Muslim and I will stay here,” she said in the audio.
Interrogator: Please what is your name?
Ese Oruru: My name is Aisha Chuwas?
Interrogator: From where are you here (sic), come Kano?
Ese Oruru: From Bayelsa State.
Interrogator: How old are you?
Ese Oruru: I am 17 years old.
Interrogator: Ok, what are you doing here in Kano now?
Ese Oruru: I am not doing anything but I came here to be a Muslim and I will stay here.
Interrogator: In your own, own, own choice or….
Ese Oruru: Silence
Interrogator: Ok, Aisha your parent tell us you are (sic) abducted from Bayelsa. It’s true?
Ese Oruru: No. I am not (sic) abducted by anybody.
Interrogator: Ok. Tell us the truth.
Ese Oruru: I am (sic) not abducted by anybody, I came here on my own interest. Nobody forced me to be a Muslim.
Ese Oruru: Yes
Interrogator: Ok, Thank you Aisha.
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.
“I was there to protect her rights,” Ms. Mohammed said. “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.