The Ogbanje family of Ogene-Amejo, Okpowu Local Government, Benue, has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest Victor Ogbuja for allegedly raping their late teenage daughter, Ochanya Ogbanje and fleeing.
The appeal is contained in a petition titled, “Petition on police refusal to arrest and prosecute Victor Ogbuja over the rape to death of 13-year-old Ochanya Ogbanje after seven years,” submitted to the IGP.
The petition was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday.
In the petition, the family urged the IGP to declare the suspect wanted, place him on a watchlist and launch a manhunt for his arrest.
They claimed that despite public outrage over the circumstances of Ochanya’s death, the police have not arrested Ogbuja seven years later.
“We write to bring to your knowledge the refusal of the Nigeria Police Force to apprehend and prosecute a fleeing suspected rapist, Victor Ogbuja, seven years after he absconded when it was made public that he repeatedly raped Ochanya Ogbanje,” the petition, filed by the family’s lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, stated.
Ochanya, then a junior secondary school student at the Federal Government Girls’ College, Gboko, Benue, died from health complications linked to the alleged prolonged sexual abuse by the Ogbujas while she lived with them.
The family said the suspect is living in Lagos and requested that the IGP recall the case file from the Police Command in Benue to the Force Headquarters for further investigation.
They also requested police protection for family members, citing threats from the Ogbuja family.
The petition added that the failure to arrest Ogbuja affects the safety of other girls and women and portrays Nigeria negatively internationally.
Ochanya was taken from Ogene-Amejo by her mother to live with Felicia Ogbuja in Ugbokolo for school.
The family claims the suspect began raping her at age seven, causing a medical condition described as faecal and urinary incontinence.
Ochanya disclosed the abuse at age 13, after which she was taken to Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, where her condition worsened.
She died on October 17, 2018.
Mrs. Ogbuja, the suspect’s mother, was convicted and sentenced to five months in prison for abdication of responsibility, which allowed the sexual assault to occur.
