ICC Note: A judge in a Nigerian court has ruled that a 14-year old girl is allowed to share her testimony on video for the court instead of taking the witness stand in the courtroom. The case of Ese Oruru, a young girl from a Christian family in Nigeria’s south, has become hotly debated around the country. The trial alleges that Yunusa Dahiru, an adult Muslim man from the north, abducted Ese and raped her, forced her to convert to Islam, impregnated her, and absconded to Kano State with her. Cases of forced conversion like this happen frequently in Nigeria, but this one has become nationally known primarily because it involves a minor.

By Emmanuel Addeh

5/13/16 Yenagoa, Nigeria (AllAfrica) — Justice Aliya Ngajiwa of the Federal High Court, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, yesterday granted an application by lawyers to Ese Oruru requesting the court to take the young girl’s evidence in camera.

Simply put, the law allows judges to take evidence in private or in chambers in cases that would breach trade secrets, national security or matters involving minors.

In that case, the press or people who are not connected directly to the matter before the court would not be allowed in, except lawyers to both respondents and their witnesses.

Miss Oruru, 14, was allegedly abducted and impregnated by Yunusa Dahiru, a Kano indigene, resident in Bayelsa, in a case that has recently drawn both national and international attention.

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