CSOs, FIDA seek justice for raped Ochanya in Kogi

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and the Federation of International Women Lawyers in Kogi State have demanded that those who sexually abused Elizabeth Ochanya be brought to book.

They made the call at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Lokoja, after a protest march from the state Specialists Hospital.

13-year old Ochanya died on October 18, 2018, after allegedly been violated, molested, defiled, drugged and abused from age five by her 52-year-old uncle, Andrew Ogbuja, a lecturer at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, and his son, Victor.

Vice Chairman of Kogi Non-Governmental Organisations Network (KONGONET) Eunice Agbogun, said the dastardly act of raping a minor, calls for global condemnation.

She said the fact that the crime led to a medical condition where the victim developed Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF), which eventually killed her, made the case worse.

Agbogun urged all well-meaning men and women to roundly condemn the act and demand that justice be done without delay, even as one of the culprits is said to be at large.

Also, chairperson of Kogi chapter of FIDA, Mrs. Christiana Adejumo, said FIDA was out to protect and promote the rights and interests of women and children.

She urged all abused or violated girls and women to run to women lawyers for redress.

Adejumo lamented that Ochanya’s case lasted for five years because it was a crime of opportunism, since the perpetrators felt that they won’t be discovered, because they lived in the same house.