Thread by @BukkyShonibare

OCHANYA: The Story, the Court, the Society!

1. In 2018, the death of 13-year-old Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje sparked street protests, online activism, and legal actions.

What happened? This thread will be in three parts: the story, the court, and the society.

#JusticeForOchanya

THE STORY:

2. Ochanya was only 8 years old when she left her village in Ogene-Amejo for Ugbokolo township of Benue State to live with her maternal relatives – the Ogbuja’s – in order to attend school, as there was none in her village. Soon after, the...

#JusticeForOchanya

3. ... couple's son, 19-year-old Victor, started raping Ochanya. On one of such days, Victor's sister, Winifred, caught him in the act. Winifred reported to their parents. Mrs. Ogbuja scolded her son, Victor, but threatened Ochanya that she would be sent...

#JusticeForOchanya

4) ...back to her village should she tell anyone. On the other hand, 51-year-old Mr. Ogbuja (a Catholic Knight and a Lecturer at the Benue State Polytechnic) started raping Ochanya.

Following the continuous sexual abuse by father and son, Ochanya started...

#JusticeForOchanya

5) ...falling ill as she had developed Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) which caused her to, among others, defecate and urinate involuntarily and uncontrollably (fecal and urinary incontinence) while enduring serious pains in her lower abdomen.

#JusticeForOchanya

6) Ochanya died on October 17, 2018 at age 13, after over two months of admission at the Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi, Benue State. Victor Ogbuja disappeared soon after and the fugitive is yet to be "found" till date. Suffice to say, the Ogbuja's are a...

#JusticeForOchanya

7) ...well known and politically connected family.

THE COURT:

The ensuing public outburst after Ochanya’s death forced the relevant authorities, to institute two court cases.

The first case was the civil case of Negligence filed at the Federal High...

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8) ...Court in Makurdi by NAPTIP against Felicia Ogbuja bothering on two main issues: first, negligence and failure of her duty of care to protect Ochanya from being abused by her husband and son; and, second, for obstruction of justice because Mrs. Ogbuja...

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9) ...made it impossible for the investigating officer to see and interrogate her daughter, Winifred.

On April 28, 2022, the court, presided over by Justice Mobolaji Olajunwo, convicted Mrs. Ogbuja, holding she failed in her duty to protect Ochanya from...

#JustiveForOchanya

10) ...being raped by her son (Victor) even after her daughter (Winifred) informed her of the sexual assault.

Mrs. Ogbuja was sentenced to 5 months imprisonment without the option of fine. The reduced imprisonment term, contrary to what the law prescribes...

#JusticeForOchanya

11) ... was because the judge, Mrs. Olajunwo, considered the allocution submitted by two character witnesses who, before the sentence was pronounced, pleaded for leniency/clemency, asking the judge should temper justice with mercy.

#JusticeForOchanya

12) The second case is the criminal case instituted on October 10, 2019 at the Makurdi High Court by the Benue State government against Andrew Ogbuja on a four-count charge of rape that resulted in Ochanya’s death. Victor Ogbuja, was, however, not joined...

#JusticeForOchanya

13) ...in the suit as the manhunt on him was said to still be on.

Also on April 28, 2022, the court discharged and acquitted Andrew Ogbuja of all four-count charge of rape and the eventual death of Ochanya because it said the prosecution failed to prove...

#JusticeForOchanya

14) ...the case of rape against Mr. Ogbuja. Justice Augustine Ityonyiman, in his judgment, mentioned two key reasons upon which his decision was based. First, that the police investigators failed to subject the defendant to medical examination in order to...

#JusticeForOchanya

15) ...match his specimen with the findings in the medical reports that were presented before the court.

The second issue bothered on the two autopsy reports presented in evidence. While the one from the Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi stated that...

#JusticeForOchanya

16) ...Ochanya died of natural cause, the other from the Nigerian Police Forensic Laboratory in Lagos said she died from diseases suffered as a result of the sexual abuse. Hence, Justice Ityonyiman held that in evaluating the evidence, he cannot...

#JusticeForOchanya

17) ..."pick and choose" which one of the autopy reports to rely on in arriving at a just conclusion of the case.

Justice Ityonyiman also said it is regrettable that Ochanya could not tell her story before her death. This is despite the video presented as...

#JusticeForOchanya

18) ...evidence wherein Ochanya, before her death, in an interview with an AIT reporter (who was also a witness) narrated her ordeal in the hands the Ogbuja’s.

THE SOCIETY

Ochanya’s death sparked the #JusticeforOchanya hashtag on social media which trended for days before...

19) ... it fizzled out. There were also many protests especially in Benue State as people called for prosecution of the alleged perpetrators and justice for Ochanya and her family.

Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje was only a 13-year-old innocent child who met her...

#JusticeForOchanya

20) ...untimely death in her quest for education which had only just started, being a JSS 1 pupil of Federal Government Girls College, Gboko, Benue State. Ochanya endured five whole years of sexual assault in the hands of men meant to protect her. The VVF...

#JusticeForOchanya

21) ...and its complications that led to her death is what is expected when perverts engage in sexual intercourse with an 8-year old child whose reproductive organs were still being formed.

Ochanya deserves justice, even in death. The least the society...

#JusticeForOchanya

22) ...owes Ochanya is to ensure this is not swept under the carpet as with other cases involving highly connected personalities. It is hoped that the Benue State government will appeal the miscarriage of justice regardless of the influence and connections...

#JusticeForOchanya

23) ...of the perpetrators. Importantly, also, Victor Ogbuja, who remain at large, should be fished out and made to answer to his involvement in Ochanya’s death.

Justice, in this case, is not only for closure for her parents and the society, but would be a...

#JusticeForOchanya

24) ...strong message to every Nigerian child, while emboldening and encouraging victims and survivors to speak out even as we break the culture of silence, as well as serve as deterrence.

#JusticeForOchanya

25) Poverty should not be a crime.

When all else fails, the law (the court) must remain the last hope of the common man.

/END

#JusticeForOchanya