My first official spoken word video 😁
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I wrote this poem sometime in 2016 when I came across a story that struck me. The story of a 7 year old who was raped to death! Then recently, Blessing Ochanya's tragic case also came up and the world seeked #justiceforochanya
X users revive #justiceforochanya, a case widely regarded as one of Nigeria’s gravest miscarriages of justice.
Ochanya was raped since she was 8 years old by Her Guardian, Mr Andrew and Her Son till she died at age 13.
She died in October 2018 due to health complications resulting from prolonged sexual abuse by her guardian, Andrew Ogbuja, a senior lecturer at Benue State Polytechnic, and his son, Victor Ogbuja, a final-year student at the Federal University of Agriculture.
Ochanya, a Junior Secondary School 1 student at Federal Government Girls’ College, Gboko, was sent to live with her aunt, Felicia Ochiga-Ogbuja, and her family in Ugbokolo, Benue State, at age five to access better education, as her village lacked adequate schools. Her parents agreed, hoping for a brighter future for her. The abuse reportedly began when Ochanya was eight years old and continued for five years, involving both vaginal and anal rape.
This led to severe medical issues, including Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF), urinary and fecal incontinence, and other complications.
Ochanya disclosed the abuse to her mother and others, recounting how Victor started abusing her first, and later Andrew joined after scolding his son. Despite medical interventions, including treatment at the Ultimate Care Hospital Otukpo, Ochanya died on October 17, 2018, at Benue State University Teaching Hospital.
The case sparked widespread outrage in Nigeria, with protests by civil society groups, women’s organizations, and students demanding justice. Andrew Ogbuja was arrested and arraigned in 2018 on charges of criminal conspiracy, rape, and culpable homicide.
However, in April 2022, a Benue State High Court acquitted him, citing conflicting autopsy reports and insufficient evidence, such as the lack of medical examination to match his specimen with findings. Victor Ogbuja, his son, fled and remains at large, with civil society groups and Ochanya’s family issuing ultimatums to the police for his arrest as late as 2020.