On Saturday, October 25, 2025, a Change.org petition popped up calling for justice for Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje. Over the weekend, social media saw a fresh wave of conversations about the incredibly tragic story of Ochanya.
Here is what you need to know.
On October 17, 2018, Ochanya Ogbanje, a 13-year-old girl, passed away after months of suffering from Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF).
VVF is a medical condition where an opening forms between the bladder and vagina, causing constant leakage of urine. It is usually a complication of pregnancy and childbirth, but it can also be caused by brutal cases of rape.
For Ochanya, it was the latter.
A five-year-old that just wanted to go to school
Ochanya, born on March 10, 2005, was the last of eleven children born to Rose Abah and Michael Ogbanje.
At five years old, her parents who wanted her to get an education after the only government school in their community of Ogene-Amejo in Benue State was shut down, sent her to live with her aunt, Felicia Ogbuja.The Ogbujas lived in Ugboloko, Benue State, where Ochanya began schooling.
She lived with Felicia, her husband Andrew Ogbuja, who was a lecturer at Benue State Polytechnic, and their five children.
An eight-year-old that deserved better
After her sickness began in 2012 and after months of hospital visits, Ochanya would tell her parents, and later journalists, that from when she was eight, Victor Ogbuja, one of Felicia and Andrew’s children, began sexually abusing her. And when his father, Andrew, found out, he too began to abuse her.
The assault was first discovered by Winifred, Andrew and Felicia’s daughter who caught her brother assaulting Ochanya and reported it to their parents. While Andrew joined in scolding his son, he would later go on to assault Ochanya as well. Neither Andrew nor Felicia informed Ochanya’s parents until they were confronted.
According to Ochanya’s father, when he confronted Andrew Ogbuja with his daughter’s accusation, Andrew admitted that his son Victor had assaulted Ochanya but maintained his own innocence. But Ochanya remained insistent that both father and son raped her.
A thirteen-year-old whose body could not take it anymore
It was in 2012 that the toll on Ochanya’s body began to show. The Ogbujas contacted her parents to say she was sick. From then on, she was constantly in and out of hospital
In 2018, she was sent home from Federal Government Girls’ College Gboko after multiple visits to the school sick bay. She had trouble standing and was passing out waste uncontrollably. She would spend the last few months of her life having to use diapers.
Reactions
The crime grabbed public attention and sparked outrage, with people and activist groups calling for the prosecution of the accused rapists.
Samuel Ortom, Benue State Governor at the time, directed the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) to renovate the primary school in Ochanya’s village and name it after her.
In August 2018, Andrew Ogbuja was arrested by the police and tried on a four-count charge of rape and culpable homicide.
After Ochanya’s death that October, the Knights of Saint Mulumba, a Catholic fraternal organisation to which Andrew belonged, suspended him pending the conclusion of his trial.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) also filed a civil suit against Felicia for her negligence that allowed the abuse to happen.However, the police failed to apprehend Victor, who remains at large.
Injustice prevails
Unfortunately, when it came to delivering judgments, Nigeria’s judicial system served up the kind of head-scratching logic that is sadly all too familiar.
On the same day—Thursday, April 21, 2022—while Andrew received his verdict at the Benue State High Court, Felicia faced her own judgment at the Federal High Court.
The Federal High Court found Felicia guilty of negligence and sentenced her to five months in prison.
The judge, Mobolaji Olajuwon, said Felicia had “the duty of care” to protect Ochanya but failed to do so, even after her daughter, Winifred, had brought the sexual assault to her attention.
Meanwhile, a completely different outcome played out at the State High Court. The judge there, Augustine Ityonyiman, acquitted Andrew of all charges.
Ityonyiman based his judgement on the failure of the police to medically match Andrew to the reports presented before the court and the contradictory autopsy reports provided by the Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi and the Nigerian Police Forensic Laboratory in Lagos.
The Medical Centre stated Ochanya’s cause of death as “natural causes”, while the Forensic Laboratory said she “suffered diseases that were related to sexual abuse”.
Despite being presented with a video of Ochanya narrating her experience in the Ogbuja’s house, Ityonyiman said, “it is regrettable that the deceased could not tell her story before she died.”
It is mind-blowing that one person can be sent to prison for negligence that allowed a crime to happen, while the accused perpetrators of that same crime walk away completely free. It defies logic.
How You Can Help Get Justice for Ochanya!
As the last few days have shown, Nigerians have not forgotten about Ochanya, and they still want justice. A petition has been started calling for a retrial of the case against Andrew Ogbuja.
For justice to be complete, it is important that the police resume their manhunt for Victor Ogbuja, who was never made to answer for the accusations against him.
Someone has to answer for what happened to Ochanya. We must demand it.
Justice for Ochanya!You can sign the petition here.
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