The tragic passing of 13-year-old Ochanya Ogbanje, who was abused by a father and son duo, has recently been making rounds on social media following cries for justice for the deceased.
8-year-old Ochanya was the youngest of eleven children. In 2012, her parents, who were farmers, decided to send her to live with her aunt, Mrs Felicia Ogbuja, so she could go to school because schools in their village were on strike. From home, her parents sent money for her school fees and upkeep
According to reports, at just eight years old, Ochanya’s life changed. Her aunt’s son, Victor Ogbuja, started abusing her sexually, and when his sister caught him and reported to their father, Mr Andrew Ogbuja, he also joined in the abuse.
Ochanya soon became very sick and was always in and out of the hospital. Tests were done, but the results were kept by the uncle’s family. One day, when her condition became too serious, she was taken back to her parents. When she started feeling better, she told her mother everything. Her story later went viral through some interviews she did
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Sadly, after a few months, her body could no longer hold on, and she passed away on October 17, 2018.
A Justice System That Keeps Failing Victims
The sad part, however, is that Ochanya’s tragic passing happens to be one of the many tragedies young girls and children go through. More worrisome is the fact that in a clime like ours, an environment where the arm of the law appears to be shortened, many of these said men who are real-life monsters walk free and do not face the full course of justice.
Over the years, there have been several cases like this, which have given rise to the Senate’s newly passed bill stating that any man who molests a minor will face life imprisonment. However, on Sunday, 26, even with this newly passed bill, 45 year old Taraba based man defiled a six year old in Jalingo, only days after the senate’s bill was passed.
Findings gathered revealed that the said man(name withheld) is also an HIV patient and has automatically infected a 6-year-old.
While residents and family members had sought help, it was revealed that the suspect was eventually allowed to go free on bail despite the fact that this incident was not the first committed by the suspect.
Fresh Cases of Child Abuse Show the Crisis Is Ongoing
Similarly, over the weekend, on the evening of Saturday, October 25, 2025, Ozioma Okonkwo, who hails from Imo State and lives in Enugu, was taken into custody after a concerned citizen reported the unsettling episode to the authorities.
Read Also: Crazy father arrested for defiling his 2 underaged daughters in Enugu
It was reported that Okonkwo had defiled his two biological daughters, aged 2 and 5. In a statement, the Enugu state government confirmed his arrest.
The question, however, remains this: what would warrant an adult male to be attracted to a child who’s barely still growing? Rape in itself is bad enough and a punishable crime, let alone defiling a minor.
Child Marriage and the Unending Cry for Justice
Another disturbing perspective to this is the subject of child marriage that has long been perpetrated in certain parts of the country where underage girls are sold off in marriage for varying reasons, including paying off debts, to get lands or certain benefits in return, among others. This practice has been traced to certain tribes around Northern Nigeria and others around the African continent.
While many may choose to dispute that the practice of child marriage is in many ways similar to the afore cases of rape and molestation, others may refute this with the view that these underage girls are still minors with underdeveloped bodies.
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Ochanya’s death has become a sickening eye-opener to these anomalies and how they have fast become a menace, crippling the safety of young women. 7 years later, and the unfortunate incident when mentioned still leaves silence in the air and questions left unanswered.
Both father and son are walking free, despite recent calls for justice for the deceased. It is only a pointer to how much this decadence has eaten into the society and how several others have gone unnoticed, with the perpetrators walking free, with no sense of remorse and the haunting possibility of these culprits repeating this evil act on other innocent people.
Is it safe to say that on subjects like this among many others, the justice system has failed? Just like it failed Ochanya?
