OCHANYA OGBAJI: A CRY FOR JUSTICE

The outcome of the trial encourages impunity

Echoes of the 2018 tragic rape-to-death of a 13-year old girl, Elizabeth Ochanya Ogbaji has resurfaced on social media. But the renewed public outrage is not merely about one case. It is about a justice system that has repeatedly failed victims of sexual violence, particularly minors, and created a culture where perpetrators believe they can act with impunity. When a father and son can rape a child for five years until she develops Vesicovaginal Fistula and dies at 13, and yet face no consequences, we must ask: What message are we sending to other predators?

The 51-year-old lecturer at the Benue State Polytechnic who serially raped his ward along with his son, was reportedly acquitted by a Benue State High Court in April 2022. His son, the co-accused who fled at the time, is now said to be pursuing a music career despite an active arrest warrant. Meanwhile, his wife was convicted for negligence and sentenced to a mere five months in prison. If we ignore the slap on the wrist, it is scandalous that she is being punished while those who committed the crime are walking free, with one acquitted on technicalities while the other remains a fugitive.

For five years, beginning from 2013, Ogbaji was allegedly molested, defiled, drugged, and abused before developing the health complications that eventually led to her death in 2018. According to reports, there were attempts to treat the crime as a family matter that could be hushed up. In our editorial at the time, we called on the authorities to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice if only to send a message that those who take pleasure in destroying the lives of children under their care would not go scot-free. Regrettably, that did not happen, and it is a serious indictment on the administration of justice in Nigeria.

However, beyond the current tragedy, it is important that we create a legal framework for children welfare services so that we can deal with complex social problems and protect them from predators. The insensitivity of the authorities and fear of stigma have contributed to the rise in a culture of impunity on the part of the perpetrators, including in the case of Ogbaji who reportedly bore the indignities and the associated health challenge for years. More importantly, the family institution, which is the most natural place for protection of children, needs to be strengthened.

As we have repeatedly said on this page, diligent prosecution and swift and exemplary sanctions would certainly send a strong signal to the perpetrators to desist from these acts. It bears repeating that the only way citizens can feel safe and secure is where the response to such a heinous crime is swift and proportional. Our courts must be more proactive and stringent in applying sanctions while the police must be educated to understand the implications of such a crime.

While the sordid details of how father and son serially violated a girl put in their care are already in the public space, what the tragedy also revealed is the increasing manner in which it is easy to get away with domestic crimes. Sadly, these bestial violations have become rampant and the authorities, at all levels, must find a way to deal with them. The insensitivity that allowed Ogbaji to suffer in silence for five years, the legal failures that have allowed her killers to walk free, and the broader culture of impunity around sexual violence represent a multi-layered failure, familial, institutional, and moral. Until we address each layer with the seriousness it demands, we will continue to fail children like Ogbaji.