Yunusa Dahiru, the young man accused
of abducting and impregnating 14-year-old Ese Oruru, a Delta State
indigene based in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, when she was 13 years old,
finally left prison custody at the weekend after spending over four
months in Okaka Prisons in the state capital.
A reliable source told THISDAY that
Dahiru was immediately taken to Kano, his home state, in the company of
his defence lawyers who usually flew into the state during trial on the
abduction.
It was learnt that contrary to
insinuation that no Bayelsa indigene would be willing to stand surety
for the accused because of the ethnic and religious sentiments the case
seemed to have elicited, the person who eventually fulfilled the court
condition was from the state.
Dahiru’s team of lawyers had battled
since March this year to free their client from prison, but without
success, following the stringent bail conditions given by Justice Ajiya
Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court in Yenagoa.
Justice Nganjiwa had set a N3 million
bail bond and two sureties in like sum, resident within the jurisdiction
of the court as conditions for Dahiru’s release.
He had also ordered that one of the
sureties must be a traditional title holder, while the second person
must be a civil servant on Grade Level 12 or above.
The bail conditions also stipulated
that the two sureties must submit their three-year tax clearance
receipts and that the defence counsel must sign an undertaking that the
accused would not jump bail.
However, the judge later relaxed the
conditions after he was approached by Dahiru’s lawyers that they could
not meet some of the requirements.
The court reduced the bail conditions
to a Level Nine civil servant and further granted the prayer of the
defendant to also allow any traditional ruler from any community in the
country to stand as surety.
Many of the court sessions to hear the
case were recently conducted in camera, after the judge granted the
prosecution team’s prayer that Miss Oruru should be cross-examined away
from the glare of journalists and members of the public.
But a source, when asked how Miss
Oruru had reacted to seeing Dahiru in the chamber during the private
sessions, revealed that “she was very antagonistic”.
Dahiru is currently facing a
five-count charge of abducting, inducing by the use of deception and
coercion, illicit intercourse, sexual exploitation and unlawful carnal
knowledge of a minor.
Lawyer to the accused, Mr. Kayode Olaosebikan, confirmed the release of his client, stating: “His people have taken him away.”
He added that the cross-examination of the young woman would continue at the next adjourned date.
Miss Oruru recently gave birth to a
baby girl and is still in the protective custody of the Bayelsa State
Police Command, which has taken responsibility for her upkeep in
collaboration with the state government.
Her cross-examination by Dahiru’s lawyers is expected to continue on September 13.
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