JUSTICE FOR OCHANYA: THE HIDDEN TRUTH NO ONE EVER HEARD ABOUT- HER TRUE LIFE STORY

When Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje left her parent’s home in Benue to live with relatives in Gboko, her mother thought she was sending her daughter into opportunity, a place with better school and a family she could trust. Instead, she sent her little girl into years of quiet suffering.

Ochanya was barely eight when the trouble began.,what should have been a safe home became a place where fear lived with her everyday.

She didn’t have the words to explain it to anyone. Each time she fell ill or tried to resist she was silenced through treat. And like most children, she carried that pain quietly.

As years went by, her health began to fail. She missed school, complaining of pain, weakness and infections that wouldn’t go away. By the time she turned thirteen, her body had given up. Doctors discovered she was living with complications caused by a long time abuse called Vesicovaginal Fistula. It was then she finally told the truth about what she had been experiencing since she was a child.

when the news broke, the nation was stunned. How could a educated and respected family, do this to their own? Her uncle Andrew Ogbuja and his son Victor had constantly abused her since she was eight.

Ochanya didn’t live long to see justice done. On october 17, 2018, she died from the complications from her injuries, but in death, her voice became louder than it ever was. The cry for #JusticeForOchanya spread across Nigeria.

After years of trail and delay, Ochanya’s Aunt was sentenced to five month imprisonment while father and son remains at large.

Ochanya’s story isn’t just about pain but about every child waiting to be heard.