Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi must speak out, act NOW!

Needless recounting the already trending story of 13-year-old Ms. Ese Rita Oruru, who was abducted in August last year, from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by some Yinusa man, and taken all the way to Kano, where he was allegedly hypnotized, brainwashed, converted to Islam, renamed Aisha and married off to God-knows-who as a child-bride.

Aside the sheer repulsiveness of the entire story, I'm particularly miffed by the mention of the otherwise highly respected Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in the saga. At a stage, the young girl was purportedly in the custody of the Emir. Stories are being told of visits by the hapless parents of the helpless young girl to the Emir's palace. Seriously? The same Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi we all know and respect? No way!

13-year-old Ese Rita Oruru

Now, I don't care whether the allegations against the Emir are true or not, at least not at this stage, but what matters most now is the release of Ms. Oruru. It is bad enough that such indiscretions and criminal abuse of the rights of children are happening in the Northern parts of the country, with the knowledge (and sometimes active participation) of the elite. To go across the Niger and actually abduct an underaged Christian, forcefully convert her to Islam and marry her off is nothing but an act of deliberate provocation and an attempt to further inflame the already smoldering fire of ethnic and religious sentiments across the country.

I, therefore, call on His Royal Higness Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Lamido, the 57th Emir of Kano, former Governor of the Central Bank, former Managing Director of First Bank, one-time winner of the Global Central Bank Governor of the Year and one of the Times 100 most influential persons in 2011, to urgently and without any hesitation step forward and speak to the world on the issue of this young girl and then proceed to effect her immediate release.

His influence, reputation, accomplishment and the reverence associated with his traditional and Islamic position will be left in tatters, if he doesn't treat the matter of little Ms. Ese Rita Oruru, with dispatch and utmost expeditiousness.

The entire world is watching in disgust but with keen interest-just as they watch him on CNN and other global news channels.