Pulse takes an in-depth
look into the circumstances that led to the untimely death of Ochanya Elizabeth
Ogbanje. It is a story every Nigerian should read.
When Ochanya Elizabeth
Ogbanje was born on Thursday, March 10, 2005, her parents had hopes that one
day, she would grow into a successful woman who they will be proud of.
Sadly, that day will never
come.
Ochanya was snatched by the
cold hands of death on Wednesday, October 17, 2018, following health
complications which allegedly resulted from five years of sexual molestation by
her guardian and his son -- Andrew and Victor Ogbuja.
Ochanya's death and the
details of her untimely passing went on to dominate headlines and grip the
consciousness of a nation coming to terms with the culture of sexual abuse and
harassment of minors.
Instead of ending up as a
statistic swept under the carpet and forgotten by time, Ochanya's case has
galvanized people into demanding for justice for her.
Innocent, and hungry for
knowledge, Ochanya's path to knowledge led her to the grave. This is her story.
“Ochanya was a very brave
child who wanted good education,” Ochanya’s father, Michael Ogbanje, tells
Pulse while sitting behind the grave of the 13-year-old in Ogene-Amejo village
in Okpokwu local government area of Benue state.
However, there was a
problem.
The only primary school in
the rural community, a stone-throw from Ochanya’s family house, was closed
since 2011 due to non-payment of teachers’ salaries, multiple sources say.
Rusty roofing sheets,
cracked and broken down walls are all that remains of the Local Government
Education Authority (L.G.E.A) Primary School, Ogene-Amejo, which was
established in 1976.
“When the primary school in
this community stopped functioning, her mother took her to the sister’s place
in Ugbokolo where she can go to school,” says Ochanya’s father, a retired
military personnel and farmer.
Villagers say it’s common
practice for children to relocate and attend schools in other communities or
risk walking as much as 32 kilometres to and from school every day.
Ochanya goes to school
Ochanya’s only option to
getting an education meant leaving the family house where she enjoyed the love
and close supervision of her parents for an aunt’s place in Ugbokolo, Benue
State.
Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje
would walk into a home of alleged sexual predators. According to Ochanya,
Victor Ogbuja, the son of Andrew Ogbuja, started to sleep with her.
According to a Vanguard
article published on August 15, 2018, Ochanya spoke about her ordeal, “It all
started in 2013 when I came to live with my mother’s sister in Ugbokolo because
there was no school in my village.
“When I was eight years
old, the son started sleeping with me and when his sister caught him, she
reported him to their father and the father scolded him. From there, the father
also started sleeping with me.”
According to her mother,
Rose Abah-Ogbanje, Ochanya was constantly in and out of different hospitals
during the over five-year period that she was away from their care.
“I took Ochanya to the
man’s (Andrew Ogbuja) house so that she can go to school because there is no
functional school in this village,” says Ochanya’s mother while recounting her
last moments with the girl.
“In 2012, Ochanya became
sick. We took her to a hospital in [Saint Mary Hospital] Okpoga where we spent
about six days during which she got medical attention. She became well and we
came back home. Later, the same sickness came back.
“It started again and we
went to Federal Medical Center Makurdi. This time, Ochanya could no longer walk
and she had lost weight. We spent about two to five days at the hospital and we
were discharged.
“When we came back home,
Ochanya began to pass waste out of her body without control. We complained at
the hospital but they could not stop it,” she recalls.
Ochanya’s health condition
was still unclear to her as the aunt allegedly hid results of eleven tests
carried out on the girl from her parents.
‘Four months on diapers’
Worried by the
uncontrollable passage of bodily waste, Ochanya’s parents queried her to
ascertain what went wrong.
“When Ochanya returned
home, she was still urinating on her body and we continued using diapers on her.
So, I told the mum to check and ask Ochanya when bathing her. It was at this
point that Ochanya’s mother discovered that she had been sexually abused,” Mr
Ogbanje says.
“Ochanya’s caregiver in
Otukpo took her to the Benue State Teaching Hospital where they ran seventeen
tests at N23,000. The tests further revealed that Ochanya was sexually molested
through her vagina and anus,” he adds.
Due to the absence of basic
social amenities such as a hospital, good road and power, in Ochanya’s village,
she was relocated from the Ogbuja house to Restorer of PathCare Foundation.
Caregiver and founder of
the home, Evangelist Enuwa Margaret Soo who took over Ochanya's health issues,
corroborated the results of these tests during our visit to the facility in
Otada-Ehicho, Otukpo.
"Sometime in June
2018, I got a call from Ochanya's elder sister who narrated her predicament to
me," Mrs Soo began.
"A few days later,
Ochanya's parents brought her to my office. At this time, one could see that
she was physically sick. But we had to run some tests to confirm their stories.
"I took her to the
Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, where it was confirmed that
she had been sexually abused carnally and annally. We began to make efforts on
how she can be treated," she adds.
“At the time they brought
the girl, she was very sick and when we began to make our findings, we
discovered that she was actually raped and the doctors confirmed that she was
allegedly sexually abused through the vagina and the anus” she reportedly said.
Angered by this discovery,
Mr Ogbanje sought to hear Mr Ogbuja’s side of the story.
“I called Andrew’s brother,
Dominic, to come and hear what Ochanya told me. When we got to the [Ogbuja]
house, he [Ogbuja] denied sleeping with Ochanya and asked that we go to the
hospital and run any form of test. He also said he would swear an oath to prove
his innocence.
“He, however, said his son,
Victor, was caught sleeping with Ochanya and he quarrelled the boy, they prayed
and he asked them to go and play.
“I was angry. He didn’t
even tell his wife. When we told her, she suggested that we run more tests to
be sure if it was her husband and son’s actions that led to Ochanya’s ill
health.
“We fixed a date to go to
the hospital but, she never got in touch with us,” he notes.
How Ochanya died
Recalling her last moments
with Ochanya, Mrs Soo says prior to her death, she could neither walk, speak
nor eat.
“When I came back from an
outing on a certain Friday, one of the girls informed me that Ochanya said she
was cold. I went in and discovered she was running a temperature,” she says.
“One or two days later,
Ochanya could no longer make use of her legs. She was becoming lifeless from
her waist downwards. Before then, she had challenges controlling her urine. Her
mother told me about her condition. All through Ochanya’s days here [June to
October 2018], she was on diapers.
“Before she died, she was
in so much pains but she could not talk or eat. That girl went through so much.
From age eight to thirteen, she was constantly in and out of the hospital,” Soo
says.
Ochanya’s broken, sick
parents demand justice
Mr Ogbanje, who now tends
to the farms to feed his family, says the judiciary is the only hope of the
family in getting justice for their late daughter.
“I have many children but
Ochanya is the youngest. I can never forget her death. I have lost so much
weight since she died because she is always on my mind. Whenever I see her
grave, I become inconsolable. As I speak to you, I am seriously sick,” he says.
“Ochanya was such a brave
child who wanted quality education. This was why she could defend herself the
way she spoke fluently in court.
“I want to appreciate the
government for how far the case has come because I have no power to tackle this
matter. If it wasn’t for the government, I could have done nothing because he
[Mr Ogbuja] is well connected in the society.
“My plea is that this case
ends well because we’re afraid that if justice is perverted, he [Mr Ogbuja]
will come and confront us,” he concludes.
Mrs Ogbanje says she’s been
unable to eat or sleep since Ochanya’s death.
“Ochanya was a peaceful
child who loved school; she was equally intelligent and did well in school
before death took her away from us,” says her mother.
“Since Ochanya died and was
buried here [pointing at her grave], I have never come to see her grave [breaks
down in tears]. I am deeply hurt by her death. Since my daughter, Ochanya,
died, I don’t sleep; I don't feel hungry.
“The government should have
mercy on us and deliver judgement on this case involving Andrew Ogbuja. They
should also get his wife and son,” Mrs Ogbanje pleaded amidst tears.
Child rape plaguing Otukpo
Traversing the length and
breadth of Otukpo, home of the Idoma people of Benue state, stories of child
rape or defilement abound.
Fueling this menace is poverty,
social vices such as cultism and a general absence of governance in the area.
Narrating a recent case, an
indigene of the State, Emmanuel Igoche, tells of how two sisters aged -- eight
and five respectively -- were allegedly
raped by a 52-year-old man.
"Their neighbour, a
52-year-old man asked the girls to buy him N500 recharge card and biscuits for
themselves," he says "As the
girls went into the house to hand him the recharge card, the man locked the
door, and raped both of them. He asked them not to talk else his son who is a
notorious cultist in the community would kill all members of their
family."
According to him, when the
parents found out, the man issued same threats and the matter was never
reported.
This is just one out of
many cases of child molestation in the local government
According to a study acting
country programme manager, AIDS Healthcare Foundation Nigeria, Dr Greg
Abiaziem, over 382,000 persons have been confirmed living with HIV, in Benue,
Ondo and Borno states.
Benue State was ranked
first in the HIV/AIDS prevalence rating in Nigeria according to the national
survey carried out in 2014.
At the orphanage, we met
Joy Ikwu-Oyale, a 14-year-old who was sexually molested at age seven, shortly
before the passing of her mother.
"I was also a victim
of what happened to Ochanya. I was seven when a boy raped me before my mother
died," she recalled. "The boy was arrested and in Police custody for
days but was later released. No one demanded justice for me but I am happy that
justice is being demanded for Ochanya," she adds holding back tears.
Now in SS2, Joy says she
could never forget that day.
Across the city, teenage
pregnancies are a common sight.
Unlike Joy, Elizabeth Okebe
became a teenage mother while seeking for funds to pay her final secondary
school examination fee.
"While I was in the
village with my parents, there was no money to pay for my WAEC fee. Even my
grandfather said there was no money to help me, too.
"A young man then came
and told me that there was a business I can do to raise money for myself. I
followed him and he got me pregnant and ran away. Now, I am a single
mother," she noted cuddling her nine-month-old son.
Despite scarce resources at
the home, Elizabeth hopes to continue
her with education when her child turns one.
Why L.G.E.A primary school
was abandoned
With the underlining factor
in Ochanya's ordeal being the lack of a basic school in her community, we
sought the government's stand on the matter.
The Benue State
Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Dennis Tyavyar,
says the government is not aware of the abysmal condition of the L.G.E.A
Primary school, Ogene-Amejo, which Ochanya should have attended.
“We have done excellently
well in terms of basic education. That is one area in which we have scored A+”
Mr Tyavyar tells Pulse when asked about his three-year stint as Commissioner
for Education in the State.
“So far, we have
constructed 760 primary schools across the state; we have renovated many
schools, we have trained over 10,000 teachers and on the verge of recruiting
others. When you drive across Benue state and you see any school building that
is renovated and very well painted, it is this ministry that is responsible,”
he continues with a smug.
When asked about the poor
condition of the L.G.E.A primary school in Ogene-Amejo community, the
Commissioner responds: “I am not sure of what school you are talking about
because we have a primary responsibility to government schools. The one you are
talking about, I am not aware. We have a lot of schools and we are in office
for just over three years and not all of them would have been fixed.
“If you go across this
country, you can hardly see any state government that achieved as much as
constructing up to 740 primary schools. This government does not joke with
basic education. In fact, we can sell off any government property to fund basic
education in the state,” he adds.
Benue Police speaks on
Ochanya
At the Benue State Police
Command in Makurdi, the Public Relations Officer, Moses Yamu, was away on
official duty when Pulse visited.
However, an Assistant
Superintendent of Police (ASP) Benjamin Olade, who refused to speak on camera
said Ochanya’s case was the only reported incident of child defilement in Benue
state.
ASP Olade claimed that the
Police acted swiftly on the matter.
However, the Benue state
Commissioner for Women Affairs, Ladi Ajene, maintains that there were “spots”
of such incidences and other violations against children in the Divisional
Welfare Offices in the State and Social Welfare Department in Makurdi since she
assumed office about three years ago.
Nigeria’s frightening
statistics on sexual child abuse
Every other day, there is a
story of ’Man, 40 rapes 2-year-old girl’ or similar cases in the news; a sad
reminder of the fact that aside from the security and economic challenges,
Nigeria is a dangerous place to have and raise the girl child.
According to the 2016
report on Violence Against Children in Nigeria by the United Nations Children
Education Fund (UNICEF), four out of 10 girls experience sexual violence
between six to eleven years of age.
The report also states that
one in every 10 boys experiences sexual violence before they become adults. It
also observed that the majority of children who were raped reported multiple
incidents.
The report indicates that
girls are more likely to experience both sexual and physical violence during childhood
than boys.
More disturbing is the fact
that perpetrators of this crime, most times, are overwhelmingly known to the
child.
These days in Nigeria, a
minor is raped either by an uncle, neighbour, family friend, caregiver or a
total stranger. Worst is knowing that perpetrators walk free while leaving the
victims with a lifelong scar.
According to a study by
DailyTrust, about 100 children were raped across Nigeria between January and
July 2018. Lagos ranked highest with 30 reported cases.
In 2013, the Lagos State
Police Command recorded 678 cases of rape between March 2012 and March 2013.
According to the Police,
most victims, mostly minors, were lured by the suspected rapists who were known
to the child.
With the establishment of
the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), 3089 cases
of sexual violence were recorded in Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre between
January and August 2018. 40 of these cases were of defilement.
What does the law say about
rape?
The Violence Against
Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015, the Criminal Code, and Child Right Act, put the
punishment for rape as life imprisonment; the Penal Code stipulates a maximum
of 14-years imprisonment for anyone convicted of the crime.
The Violence Against
Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 stipulates a minimum of 20-years without an
option of fine for anyone convicted of rape.
Regardless of these
penalties, more minors are being sexually molested almost on a daily basis in
Nigeria with a huge gap in the report of some of these incidences.
‘5 Children sexually abused
daily in Nigeria’
Describing the issue of
defilement of minors as “an illness in Nigeria”, Barrister Ngozi Ikenga, the
chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Abuja
chapter, says about five children are sexually abused on a daily basis in the country.
Since she took over
leadership of the legal body in 2016, Barrister Ikenga says over 500 cases have
been reported in Abuja with over 200 suspects convicted of rape and currently
serving jail time.
A Culture of Ignorance,
Stigmatization and Silence
A major obstacle to
securing a conviction for rape cases, according to Ikenga, is the issue of
stigmatization and ignorance on the part of family members of most victims.
“Sometimes, the family of
the victims do not come out to speak. If we do not get to know on time, we may
end up losing the necessary evidence needed to prosecute these cases in court,”
she tells Pulse.
“For instance, if a person
is raped, the victim is supposed to be taken to the hospital at least 72-hours
after, for tests, so that the specimen and evidence needed for prosecution can
be obtained.
“Sometime, before getting
to know, the parents might have washed the child in question, thereby
destroying the evidence. When you do not have the evidence, as a lawyer, there
is little or nothing that you can do,” states Ikenga.
“Sometimes, because of the
stigmatization, parents or family members will prefer to keep it low so that
their daughter will not be stigmatized. All these encourage the increase in
rape incidents that we see because if people are dealt with and treated as
criminals, it will reduce the committing of rape in Nigeria,” she also adds.
Institutional and societal
failure
Abiodun Baiyewu, Country
Director of Global Rights, sees the rising statistics of rape of minors by older
folks as a failure of government and the society.
“The biggest problem is
impunity; that our laws enable people to get away with sexual violence,” she
says. “When you think about this, in relation to Ochanya’s case, you’ll see
that we’re not accountable for our children,” he tells Pulse.
“Once a child is born in
Nigeria till they die, they may go undocumented. Where they’re documented, no
one is keeping a tab on if they are treated rightly by their primary caregivers
or society itself.”
Dorothy Njemanze, a human
rights activist, says there are no supporting structures for survivors of rape.
The founder of the Dorothy
Njemanze Foundation, says an average of three cases of child defilement is
reported at her office weekly. She also identifies comprehensive sexuality
education as a major contributor to the problem of defilement.
Speaking to Pulse, she says
“The issue of comprehensive sexuality education is not taken seriously in
schools. There are cases of so many children who come up to report cases of
sexual violation and do not know the names of their sensitive body parts.
‘Uncle Uwen put his bum-bum in my bum-bum’ is not feasible.
“We need to teach children
the names of all body parts so that when there are violations, they are called
appropriately.”
‘Rape is expensive’
Njemanze also identifies
the cost implications of reporting a rape case as a major drawback to winning
the battle against child defilement.
“In theory, we have
wonderful laws but in practice, they are not implemented. Also, there are no
support structures for those who report,” she says.
“In the FCT where the
Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAP) and Child Rights Act are currently
justiciable, the child is expected to open a file at the Police station with at
least N2,000; pay for her medicals and that of the suspected rapist or rapists;
pay for the appearance of a Police prosecutor if the case is charged to court;
pay prison officials at least N5,000 to take the suspect to prison should he be
remanded.”
“Working closely with the
Police hospital in Area One. They receive over 1,000 cases of rape yearly, most
of which are children. Barely 50 per cent of these cases make it to court.
“States that have reduced
the penalties for child offenders are making a mess of our children. Life
imprisonment for those convicted should not be reduced to ten years.”
#JusticeForOchanya protests
Andrew Ogbuja, Ochanya’s
suspected rapist who is a lecturer at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo,
was arrested and suspended by the Benue State Government.
On Thursday, October 25,
2018, Mr Isaac Ajim of the Makurdi Chief Magistrate Court ordered that Mr
Ogbuja be remanded in prison till Thursday, November 29, 2018.
Subsequently, a religious
group Mr Ogbuja belonged to, the Order of the Knight of Saint Mulumba, in an
advertorial in Punch newspaper on Wednesday, October 31, 2018, announced his
suspension pending judgement on the matter.
Multiple sources in the
village say Mr Ogbujah’s wife and son -- who was also accused of molesting
Ochanya -- have since left their home in Ugbokolo.
On Friday, November 23,
2018, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons
(NAPTIP) arrested Felicia Ogbuja, the aunt of Elizabeth Ochanya.
According to a statement by
NAPTIP, Felicia was arrested because she's suspected of having knowledge of the
repeated rape of the late teenager without reporting to the appropriate
authorities.
‘Prison time not enough’
Mavis Gbande, a mother of
five tells Pulse that the only way to reduce the increasing spate of rape in
the country was to “hang rapists.”
Gbande is of the opinion
that except stiffer penalties are given to those convicted for rape, things may
not get any better.
“Anyone who rapes a child
should be hanged; no need for long stories,” Gbange declares. “Once they
sentence five people to death by hanging, you’ll see that this wickedness will
stop,” she declares.
At the National Assembly,
mum’s the word
Senator David Mark and
Honourable Ezekiel Adaji, are Ochanya’s direct representatives at the National
Assembly.
Both have not raised Point
of Orders or motions demanding justice for Ochanya.
The leadership of the
National Assembly has also been quiet on the death of young Ochanya despite the
national outcry.
Such inactions reinforce
the notion that the only time citizens matter is during elections.
On December 2016, the
Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo spoke at the national workshop on War Against
Abuse in Nigeria which was organized by the Future Assured Programme, a pet
project of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari.
"These abuses can be
prevented. We don’t have to wait until it happens. We need to do all within our
power to prevent abuse, victims should not be made to be on the defensive all
the times.
"Women are always
taught how to behave, but the men and boys that perpetuate this crimes are not
even mentioned. Our ability to safeguard women and girls is the key to Nigeria
moving forward" said the VP.
The Senate President,
Bukola Saraki, who was represented by the Senate Deputy Majority leader, Sen.
Bala Ibn Na-Allah at the function, said "We are committed to the welfare
and safety of our women and children and would enact relevant laws in this
regard."
Now, more than ever is the
time for the Federal Government to have a concerted effort in dealing with
cases of sexual abuse of minors, and the rehabilitation of victims.
Call to action
Laws such as the Child
Rights Act passed by the National Assembly which should protect Nigerian
children from all forms of violence, have not been domesticated in some states.
The National Assembly
should consult with State Assemblies to ensure the domestication of these laws
and their implementations as well.
“As Nigeria approaches the
2019 general elections, other than roads and bridges, citizens should begin to
demand an action plan aimed at ending social problems such as rape, especially
of minors,” Njemanze says.
"Before Ochanya died,
she used to go to a church, market, interact in schools and so on. What
happened to aspects of the sexual harassment policy that focuses on where
children congregate? Before Sunday schools, Islamia and daycare, there should
have a sexual harassment policy.
“This needs to be taken
seriously because we are killing children daily and creating an environment for
crime to thrive,” she says.
It is time for Nigeria to
start protecting its girl child. If Local Government Education Authority
(L.G.E.A) Primary School, Ogene-Amejo had remained open, Ochanya would be alive
today.
No Nigerian child should
walk 32 km to school every day. Ochanya's parents wanted a better life for
their daughter. Today, she is dead.
Inadequacies in our
educational system aside, Nigeria has become a playground for sexual predators
to assault, molest and kill our young ones.
Our squeamish (and
hypocritical stance) towards sex, sexuality and sex education has not helped
matters. Parents should no longer consider it a taboo to speak to their
children about sex.
Our culture of silence over
the decades has created a toxic atmosphere for girls, women (boys and men too)
to be sexually harassed, assaulted and molested.
This culture of silence has
created an atmosphere of fear making it nearly impossible for victims to speak
up.
Now, there are voices…
No longer will stories like
this be swept under the carpet.
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