…demands protection for the deceased teenager’s family
Popular Lagos-based rights lawyer cum activist, Inibehe Effiong, Esq, has taken over the case of late Miss Ochanya Ogbaje who was raped to death by a father and son, about seven years ago.
Ochanya was thirteen years old when she died as a result of health complications emanating from the rape incident in Benue State.
About seven years later, the police had yet to arrest one of the suspects, Victor Ogbuja, who is reported to had fled upon the death Ochanya, while cases of the other accused were handle in a manner that have sparked public outcry in recent time.
“Sequel to the engagement of our services, and consequent to the instructions of the Family of the Late Miss Ochanya Ogbanje of Ogene-Amejo in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State, we have taken up the case of the late Miss Ochanya”, Inibehe noted in a statement he released.
While stressing that the criminality that led to Ochanya’s death was in contravention of the NAPTIP Act, the fierce lawyer revealed that he has filed a petition with the Inspector-General of Police demanding for the transfer of the case file.
According to Inibehe “As a preliminary step, we have filed a formal petition with the Inspector General of Police (the IGP) which was submitted on the 4th of November, 2025 on the refusal by the police to arrest one Victor Ogbuja for the gruesome rape to death of the 13-year-old Ochanya Ogbanje.
The suspect, allegedly raped the deceased for years until she developed fatal medical conditions, which is believed to have led to her untimely death”.
The lawyer bemoaned the police’ failure to arrest Victor Ogbuja over seven years after the crime was committed.
“While the lecturer father of Victor Ogbuja, Mr. Andrew Ogbuja, was tried at the Benue State High Court and acquitted on April 28, 2022 due to prosecutorial failure, his mother, Mrs. Felicia Ogbuja, was convicted and sentenced by the Federal High Court in Makurdi to five months imprisonment for abdication of responsibility which resulted in the sexual exploitation and death of the deceased in contravention of the NAPTIP Act.
However, the police in the last seven years has failed to arrest Victor Ogbuja who had fled from Benue State when Ochanya died.
“We are demanding that the IGP should urgently recall the police case file from the Benue State Police Command to the Force Headquarters, Abuja, direct and supervise the arrest of Victor Ogbuja for prosecution.
We have also demanded that the members of the Ochanya family be given adequate police protection due to the repeated threats to their lives”
