For a properly educated individual, a case of minor getting pregnant shouldn’t only be surprising, but equally worrisome.
Such is the case of Ese Oruru, 14 year old girl who was reportedly abducted from her home in Bayelsa State, Southern Nigeria and taken to Kano, a northern city.
Different accounts of this story have been published including the young girl’s uninformed elopement with a young man, Yinusa, a commercial tricyclist from Kano, also called Yellow.
However, the truth remains that Ese was taken to a distant land and forced to accept a different religion. This can be likened to a terrorist behaviour.
Even more striking is the fact that she has been confirmed pregnant! This underscores the possibility or contracting any of the various sexually transmitted diseases and also developing a fistula.
A fistula is an abnormal opening between two different organs, which could be the vagina and the bladder (called Vesicovaginal fistula), a subtype of female urogenital fistula (UGF).
Early conception, before the full maturation of the pelvis, is a major risk factor for VVF in developing countries such as Nigeria. During an obstructed or prolonged labour by the impaction of the foetus, blood supply to the vesicovaginal wall is cut. This causes tissue necrosis (death) which leaves a hole that allows involuntary discharge of urine into the vagina. What this means in english is that urine leaks!
Meanwhile, VVF is a condition common among young women in northern Nigeria as a result of early marriages. Other challenges include the social stigma and ostracisation these women face.
Nigeria is still subtly divided along ethnic and religious lines. Early/child marriage is predominantly a northern practice, which is where the country has most cases of fistulas.
Ethnicity and religion are very difficult to deal with in Nigeria and no proper legislation is in place to combat this problem.
Terrorism also has its part to play. In April 2014, terrorist organization, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from Chibok (Northeast Nigeria) and were subsequently reported to have been ‘married off’.
To be fair, free surgical repairs are provided for some of the women but the coverage is still limited.
Research-wise, it is still hard to give a clear estimate of the number of cases in Nigeria. There are many remote areas with little accessibility and also areas affected by terrorism.
The story of Ese has clearly gone beyond a case of religion or ethnicity to an act of wickedness, deprivation of human rights, social injustice and a threat to national health.
If this issue is swept under the carpet, it will mean that this kind of evil can be perpetuated again and gotten away with on the basis of one’s social, ethnic or religious class.
Consequently, Nigeria will step backwards in the fight against fistulas, a global health concern.
Justice must be swift, or this sort of heinous act will not cease.
Recently, Lagos lawyer and rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka at a press briefing in Lagos explained that Nigerians should not treat Ese’s abduction with any religious coloration as hands could easily be ‘tied’ with the rope of religion.
This is a possibility because adding a religious sentiment may alter the case of apparent criminality.
Meanwhile, Yinusa, the abductor who is already being prosecuted must be made to face the law of the land which is regarded above a religious law.
His prosecution would however right some wrongs and equally send the right signals to other would be abductors.
However, the issue of child marriage which is the main cause of VVF predominant in northern Nigeria must be addressed as a matter of public health and not as a religious topic.
Finally, parents should endeavor to monitor their children closely in order to ward off predators such as Yinusa always lurking around neighborhoods.
Written by Ayobami Ayodele, a graduate Physiotherapist
Email: emmabamidele@yahoo.com