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The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has arrested the aunty of the late Ochanya Ogbaje.
In a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES, NAPTIP alleged the accused, identified as Mrs Ogbuja, had knowledge of the repeated rape of the minor but refused to report or speak out.
According to NAPTIP, the arrest of Mrs Ogbuja, a staff of the Catering Department of Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, came about four weeks after an intensive manhunt. She was said to have disappeared from her house shortly after the minor’s death.
Miss Ogbaje, a 13 years old student of the Federal Government Girls College, Gboko, died on October 21 after five years of anal and vaginal rape led to vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) and other health complications.
This occurred when she was living with the family of the two men, a father and his son, who raped her.
The statement added that her death was as a result of alleged sexual abuse by Andrew Ogbuja, Head of Department, Catering and Hotel Management at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Benue State, and his son, Victor Ogbuja, a final year student of Animal Production at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi.
According to NAPTIP, Mrs Ogbuja, who got hint of plans to arrest her, absconded to Lagos and later to Abuja before she finally returned to Markudi were she was arrested Friday afternoon.
Speaking on the development, NAPTIP Director – General, Julie Okah- Donli, said the suspect will be investigated to ascertain her level of connivance in the incident and thereafter charged to court.
“I am still pained by the tragic death of the Late Elizabeth Ochaya Ogbaje and the only thing we can do to ensure that her groaning spirit rest in peace is to ensure that full dose of justice is served on all those that are directly or indirectly involved in the unwholesome act that led to her death.
“It is important to establish the status of people around the late girl who had knowledge of her ordeal and yet refused to report to the Law enforcement Agencies who would have rescued her.
“We cannot continue to fold our hands while our children are been sexually molested and assaulted by people that ought to have protected them. This case at hand will be a case that will be monitored and all those linked in one way or the other shall all be made to face the full weight of the law.
“I also want to use this opportunity to appeal to all State Governors to domesticate the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) which is presently applicable in the Federal Capital Territory. This Act is designed to ensure that our children and other vulnerable classes of the society are protected.
“It is important to point out that domesticating the VAPP is another form of giving the citizen real divided of democracy,” Ms Okah-Donli said.
Meanwhile, Mr Ogbuja was arrested by the police, arraigned before a Makurdi Upper Area Court in August 2018 and remanded in prison but his son fled.
The death of the victim ignited protests by several civil society organisations in Abuja, Makurdi and other parts of Nigeria.
Mr Ogbuja has been remanded in prison till the next date of hearing of the matter in court on November 29.
