Ochanya: Kogi CSOs, FIDA call for Justice
The Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in Kogi, have demanded that nothing but justice be served in the case of Elizabeth Ochanya Ogbaje, a violated minor.
Thirteen-year-old Ochanya who died on October 18, 2018, was allegedly violated, molested, defiled, drugged and abused from age eight to death by her 52-year-old uncle, Andrew Ogbuja, a Lecturer in Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, and his son, Victor Ogbuja.
The coalition of CSOs and FIDA in Kogi made the call at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Lokoja, after a protest march from the State Specialists Hospital to the Centre.
Ms Eunice Agbogun, Vice chairman of Kogi NonGovernmental Organisations Network (KONGONET), said that the dastardly act of alleged rape of a minor, Ochanya by the Ogbujas, called for global condemnation.
She added that, the fact that their alleged act led to a medical condition where the victim developed Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) disease which eventually claimed her life, cutting her off in her prime, made it worse.
Agbogun called on all well meaning men and women, to roundly condemn the act and demand that justice be served without delay, even if one of the alleged culprits remained at large.
Mrs Christiana Adejumo, Chairperson of Kogi Chapter of FIDA, leading the protesters to the NUJ Press Centre, said FIDA was out to protect and promote the rights and interests of women and children, and urged abused or violated girls and women to run to women Lawyers.
Adejumo said Ochanya's case lasted for five years, because it was a crime of opportunism, in the sense that the perpetrators felt that since they were living in the same house, they won't be discovered.
She urged mothers to be extra vigilant and watchful, because "the rapists are within us and living with us. So, we need to watch out, and be extra watchful over the girl child and the females in the society”.
"We need to watch each other's back. When we hear it, lets scream to the rooftop, and we shall get help", she advised.
Responding, Alhaji Adeiza Momoh-Jimoh, Chairman, Kogi Council of the NUJ, welcomed the protesters and commended their effort at ensuring that such crimes and the perpetrators, were brought to justice.
Momoh-Jimoh decried the rampant cases of rape in the country, describing Ochanya's case as one too many.