The contrasting cases of Elizabeth Ochanya Ogbanje and John Otema highlight the complex challenges of prosecuting sexual violence in Nigeria.
Ochanya, a 13-year-old girl from Benue State, suffered years of abuse and died in 2018. Her case dragged on for nearly five years in a regular High Court, weighed down by conflicting medical reports, weak forensic evidence, and repeated adjournments. By contrast, within two years of his arrest, University of Lagos graduate John Otema was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison for rape and assault. His case, tried at Lagos State’s specialist Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, benefited from clear victim testimony, corroborating evidence, and a streamlined trial process.
These two cases do not only reflect the difference between regular and specialist courts; they also expose how the quality of evidence, prosecutorial capacity, and judicial prioritisation together determine speedy delivery of justice.
Justice delayed: Ochanya’s long struggle through the courts
In October 2018, 13-year-old Elizabeth Ochanya Ogbanje died after suffering years of sexual abuse while living with the Ochiga-Ogbuja’s family to get a better education in Ugbokolo, Benue State.
Andrew Ochiga-Ogbuja and his son, Victor Ochiga-Ogbuja, both maternal relations of the deceased, were accused of serially raping her.
Ochanya spent four months in diapers’ before seventeen tests revealed that she was sexually violated through her vagina and anus. Doctors later diagnosed Ochanya with Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) and she was admitted at the Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi for two months before she died on October 17, 2018.
Although Ochanya’s death sparked national outrage, the pursuit of justice moved at a slow pace.
Ochiga-Ogbuja, a lecturer at the state polytechnic was arrested and remanded in custody while his son, Victor was on the run.
Her case was filed before a regular High Court in Makurdi. This meant competing with a backlog of civil, criminal, and land disputes, infrequent hearings, and repeated adjournments.
