A 15-year-old schoolgirl, Patince Paul who was abducted in Sokoto State, has explained her ordeal at the hands of her abductor. The teenager who was forcefully abducted and converted to Islam explained that she was held in captivity and sexually abused for seven months at the residence of Sarkin Baki (king of strangers). The Benue-born student had gone missing on August 12, 2015, but help came her way after Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state ordered an investigation into the matter, a directive which later led to her release.
According to Leadership, young Patience explained that her abductor and some Hisbah (Sharia police) personnel took her to an imam in Runjin Sambo area of Sokoto, claiming that she wished to convert to Islam. “I was sent to buy biscuits and on my way I saw him (her abductor) and he persuaded me to come to his bungalow,” the young girl said. On whether she was forced into marriage in Sokoto, the primary six pupil answered in the negative, stating however, that her abductor turned her into a sex slave at the house of the Sarkin Baki. She said: “Yes, he was forcefully making love to me any time he wanted. “They first took me to Sarkin Baki house, and kept me there for seven months before my parents came looking for me. “They gave me something to drink, but I refused to take the drink, and they took me to one room and locked me inside the room.
“They forcefully made me to turn to Muslim and gave me another name, Aisha. Some people wanted to marry me, but the Sarkin Baki refused and said until I finish Islamic school before they marry me off.”
Barrister Ezekiel Dyagas, a lawyer with a Plateau-based NGO, who helped with the rescue of Patience, addressed a press conference in Kaduna, explaining that he was briefed about her case on March 1, 2016, by her brother.
According to him: “Her brother, who is here with me, has been up and doing since the family realised that the little girl was missing and eventually abducted by one of her neighbours.
“I promised the family to give me 48 hours and we would be able to trace her whereabouts. I posted her story on the website and you will not believe the response I got.
“Within that 48 hours I was talking to the Sokoto State governor, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, and I told the girl’s brother that the governor will call him.
“In fact, the governor not only called, but he played a vital role towards the freeing of Patience. He acted as a father and we appreciate his role. In short, he was instrumental to her eventual release.
“As I am talking to you, those behind her abduction in Sokoto had been arrested and are going to face prosecution soon.”
Meanwhile, the youngster’s elder brother, Isaac Paul, who had just graduated from the University of Sokoto and is awaiting NYSC call-up, was full of gratitude to Nigerians who came to the aid of their family in ensuring the recovery of his sister.
The 28-year-old said that their mother was dead and their father worked as a steward in Sokoto, adding that Patience is the sixth child of the nine in the family.
The issue of teenage kidnap and forceful abduction reared its ugly head recently when the case of Ese Oruru, the Bayelsan girl who was kidnapped and taken to Kano became a household item in Nigeria. After the controversies surrounding her abduction and subsequent release, the young Oruru made stunning revelations about what transpired in the palace of the Emir of Kano, where she was reportedly housed for a while. This news also comes after a 16-year-old student of Government Secondary School, Apo Resettlement, Ifesinachi Ani was abducted about six months ago and taken to an unknown destination. The missing girl is a native of Amaechi Awkunanaw in Enugu south local government area of Enugu state.
According to Ifesinachi’s mother who is a widow with four children, neither the FCT police command nor other organisations have been able to offer any reasonable assistance to secure the release of the girl.