Rape, Slavery and the Girl-Child
TCondolences to the Ogbaje Family wo events that occurred recently, left me wondering about what type of world we live in today. It seems to be a bad, bad world. A world in which there is no longer anything like care, taking responsibility, being your brother’s keeper etc anymore, on all levels, whether between family members, between people, between governments and people, or between governments of different countries. If not, how would such a horrible thing have happened to Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbaje over an extended period of five years, and no neighbour or friend or teacher or her aunty and guardian, Felicia Ogbuja was aware of the abuse she was suffering in the hands of her uncle, Andrew Ogbuja and their son, Victor.
I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of Ochanya, whose death which occurred on October 18, 2018, was as a result of complications arising from Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) caused by her rape, sodomy, sexual assault and sexual abuse by Victor Ogbuja and his son, for a period of five years, from when she was the tender age of eight. May Ochanya find everlasting peace (which she obviously did not have in life), with the Lord. Amen.
Justice for Ochanya I join my voice, with the voices of all who are calling for justice for Ochanya. Both Ogbuja father and son, deserve all the maximum punishments for their heinous criminal acts against this innocent little girl, ranging from Having sexual relations with a minor contrary to the Child Rights Act, Rape, Assault with intention to cause grievous bodily harm, sodomy, to murder, all contrary to the Penal Code which operates in Benue State, all carrying various terms of imprisonment, and even the death sentence, in the case of murder. To take such a small child, and terrorise and treat her in such a violent manner, is not only criminal and unconstitutional (see Sections 17(3)(f) and 34(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution), it is cruel and sick. In fact, I really do not have the appropriate words, to describe their acts. They are animals. What am I saying? Even most animals protect their young, not harm them. They are less than animals. Vesicovaginal Fistula For those of us who are not familiar with VVF, it is a condition whereby “a hole develops between the vagina and the bladder, resulting in uncontrollable leaking of urine through the vagina”. There are several causes of VVF, most common among them, being the result of childbirth, especially in young girls whose pelvis’ are not fully developed, and trauma to the vagina. That is why, unlike people like Senator Sani Yerima, the former Governor of Zamfara State, who marry 14 and 15 year old girls, I am against marrying off girls in their early teens. It can harmful.
One can only imagine what kind of fear, humiliation, pain, emotional and physical trauma, that this child Ochanya, had to go through, not only during the acts of violent rape against her, but also not being able to control the leakage of urine, the kind of discomfort and embarrassment the VVF condition would have caused her, because there would probably have been a never ending odour of urine, surrounding her. Not just as a mother, but as a human being, the thought moves me to tears.
My question is, in all this, where was the Aunty, Felicia Ogbuja? Is she not culpable too? If she claims that she was unaware of the abuse, then she is careless, and not fit to be a mother. If she was aware, and she kept mute and looked the other way, she is not better than her husband and son, and is also criminally liable, as an accessory to the crimes.
Kafala System Which brings me, to the second occurrence. The international community/ governments, are also guilty of being accessories by looking the other way, because they are not taking enough proactive steps to stop modern day slavery in several countries. Have you heard of the ‘Kafala’ System? I had not, until I watched a BBC documentary last week. Remember that recently, there was the scandal that hit the headlines, about migrants being sold into slavery in Libya? Did you also know that, slavery is still being practiced openly in Mauritania? With all the exposés by CNN, how have other governments intervened to stop this evil act? In the same vein, what did Mrs Ogbuja do, to stop the abuse of Ochanya, and protect her from her husband and son?
The Kafala or Sponsorship System is one in which migrant workers for low income jobs like domestic work, from places like South East Asia and Africa, “can only enter, work and leave the host countries” in which they have gone to take up employment, “with the assistance or explicit permission of their sponsor or employer, who is local in the country”. The employer countries in this modern day slavery, are Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE (Gulf States). They ill treat the workers, starve and beat them, rape and maim them, and in some cases, kill them.
Kenya and the Ban on Export of Maids
From Africa, women are recruited from places like Ghana and Kenya (I don’t know whether Nigeria is part of the circle), to go and work as housemaids in the Gulf States, with the help of recruiting agents in the recruiting and host countries. In the BBC documentary, a former Kenyan Senator, Emma Mbura, was following up amongst others, on the story of a young lady whom I believe was called Mary. Mary was a wife and mother of four children, who went to work as a housemaid in Saudi Arabia, and came back to Kenya severely burnt from head to toe. Apparently, Mary had been hospitalised in Saudi Arabia for 41 days, and the Saudi Agent, kept the gruesome details from her people. She was repatriated to Kenya, and it was on arrival, that the extent of her injuries became known. Mary subsequently, succumbed to her injuries, and died in a Kenyan hospital.
The Kenyan recruiting agent, feigned ignorance about Mary’s condition. Senator Mbura was trying to ensure that Mary’s family received her unpaid salaries, and some form of compensation for her death. The Saudi agent claimed that Mary’s insurance had been used to foot the bills, while she was hospitalised there. There was yet another Kenyan maid, who returned from Saudi Arabia, no longer able to speak. No one has been able to discover what actually happened to her over there, as she is now only able to babble unintelligibly.
At some point, the number of Kenyans who went as domestic staff, and were injured or killed in these Gulf States became so alarmingly high, that the Kenyan Government placed a ban on maids going to work for Arabs. Ethiopia and Uganda, also placed a ban. But today, many believe that, because of the financial aid that the Kenyan Government is receiving from Saudi Arabia, this is the reason why the ban on the export
“I JOIN MY VOICE, WITH THE VOICES OF ALL WHO ARE CALLING FOR JUSTICE FOR OCHANYA. BOTH OGBUJA FATHER AND SON, DESERVE ALL THE MAXIMUM PUNISHMENTS, FOR THEIR HEINOUS CRIMINAL ACTS AGAINST THIS INNOCENT LITTLE GIRL....”
of maids has been lifted. Senator Mbura has not relented, in her crusade to have the ban reinstated.
Is Kenya allowing her citizens to go to Saudi Arabia to be used as slaves, in exchange for financial aid? Sadly, most African governments have failed their people, to the extent many have been reduced to going abroad to work as slaves, just to eke out a living. Many of them suffer cruel fates, yet their governments and governments of the world, remain unperturbed and nonchalant.
What is the world doing, to stop this evil abhorrent practice of slavery? They seem to be just looking the other way, in the face of glaring facts, as in the case of Ochanya. Apart from the UN’s countless anti-slavery Protocols and Conventions which many countries have ratified, (which seem not to be much of a deterrent), what are other governments doing to discourage their counterparts from slavery?