A Civil Society Organisation fighting against rape in Nigeria on the aegis of ‘Men Against Rape Foundation’ and Federal Government Girls College (FGGC) Gboko Old Students Association have urged the Benue State Government to seek redress in Appeal Court on the judgement of the Benue State High Court, Makurdi, which acquitted Andrew Ogbuja, a lecturer with the State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, of raping and causing the death of Ochanya Ogbanje, a 13-year-old schoolgirl in 2018.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the Executive Director, MAD, Lemmy Ughegbe, also requested that Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State to grant a fiat so that a private legal practitioner who is an expert in sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) to handle the case.
Ughegbe described the judgement of the Benue High Court as a travesty and miscarriage of justice, stressing that it is a blow to all activists seeking to fight for victims of SGBV.
The Executive Director of MAD also urged the Benue State government not to allow the 90 days period to elapse before seeking redress in Appeal Court.
In the words of Ughegbe; “No child is safe until every child is safe. The fight for Ochanya is a fight for the society and all children in Benue. It will be a fallacy to say Ochanya didn’t speak or she is not alive to tell her story as a trending video contradicts such statements”.
He stressed the need for justice to be served to honour the deceased and serve as a deterrent for other perpetrators.
On her part, the president, FGGC Gboko Old Students Association, FCT Chapter, Ngozi Azodoh reiterated their trust in the Nigerian judiciary that justice will be served, saying; “We are interested because we are mothers and we see Ochanya as our little daughter”.
Azodoh however, commended the efforts of the Benue State government towards ensuring that the matter is taken to court.
The Benue State High Court in Makurdi, had acquitted Ogbuja, of raping and causing the death of Ochanya in 2018.
The decision contradicts another Thursday’s verdict of the Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, in a separate case, which convicted Ogbuja’s wife for negligence over the child, after establishing that he raped the minor.
The Federal High Court jailed Felicia Ochiga-Ogbuja for five months without an option of fine for failing to protect the child from her husband. However, the state High Court exonerated the same man.
Ogbuja and his fugitive son, Victor, who are both maternal relations of the deceased, were accused of serially raping her until she fell ill and subsequently died.
Ochanya was admitted at the Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi for two months before she died on October 17, 2018.
