By Tayo Ogunbiyi
Once again, the ugly reality of the dreadful subject of rape in our society has been brought into the fore as, Elizabeth Ochanya Ogbaje, a 13-year-old girl who was raped by a lecturer and his son in Benue State, recently passed away. The young girl reportedly fought with Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) and other related medical problems at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, before her sad demise. Autopsy report affirmed the cause of her death to be sexual molestation of a minor.
According to reports, Mr. Andrew Ogbuja, the 51-year-old lecturer at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Benue State, and his son, Victor Inalegwu Ogbuja, a final year student of Animal Production at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, had consistently molested and raped little Ochanya since she was 8 years old.
Ochanya was living with the family as a result of her relationship to Mrs. Felicia Ochiga-Ogbuja, the lecturer’s wife who is her cousin, before she was turned to an object of sexual pleasure for both father and son. Reports had it that, though the girl usually take ill, it was really hard for the hospitals in Ugbokolo to discover precisely what was wrong with her, even when she sometimes collapses.
However, after severe grilling, the deceased disclosed how she has been sexually abused by the sexual predators but could not confide in anyone because she was threatened with death by the murderous duo if she ever tells anyone about their evil escapades. The poor girl further revealed that she was often drugged by the twosome, which often made her to be very unconscious of their dastardly act.
Presently, Andrew Ogbuja had allegedly jumped bail and is currently at large. Angered by the repulsive and disgusting event, Nigerians are demanding for justice for the late girl. Lots of concerned people are particularly irked that the Police have not arrested the lecturer and his son since the death of Ochanya.
Though a global phenomenon, the appalling side of rape in our clime has to do with recklessness of the perpetrators, lackluster response of justice administrators and absence of institutional supportive system to help the victims. More worrying is that a good number of suspected rapists move freely on the streets after committing the heinous act. Also worrisome is the fact that not much is being done in respect of strengthening our weak law to incisively deal with perpetrators of rape.
Rape victims suffer a sense of abuse that goes beyond physical injury. They may become skeptical of men and experience feelings of embarrassment and disgrace. Victims who suffer rape trauma syndrome experience physical symptoms such as headaches, sleep disturbances, and fatigue. They may also develop psychological disturbances related to the circumstances of the rape, such as intense fears. Fear of being raped has social as well as personal consequences. For example, it may prevent women from socializing or traveling as they wish while worried and un-enlightened parent can use it as excuse of limiting educational progress of girl-child.
Rape takes away from the victim, human rights such as right to life (as it led to death in some instances), right to dignity of human person, right to personal liberty and security of person and right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It is a crime against basic human rights and it also violates the victim’s most cherished of the fundamental rights – the right to life.
Sadly, occurrence of cases of rape calls to question not only our sense of justice but our civilization as a people.Now, let’s attempt to examine why some men engage in the heinous crime of rape. According to experts, rape mostly occurs as result of a violent craving to control the victim rather than an attempt to achieve sexual fulfillment. They deem rape an act of violence rather than mainly a sexual encounter.
It needs to be, however, stressed that beside the desire to control, rape also underscores the sorry state of the mind of perpetrators. The blatant way rape is often committed shows that perpetrators still operate in a distorted mindset of women as assets to be used and dispensed with at will.
In our country, the weak stance of the law towards rape needs to be seriously addressed. Women and girls who are raped in Nigeria have little hope of obtaining justice and reparation. Victims are sometimes pressured into withdrawing the case or parents of victims prefer financial settlement out of court to a criminal prosecution. Where cases are brought to court, prosecution sometimes fails because police refer cases to a court lacking appropriate jurisdiction and progress is then obstructed by the slow administration of the judicial system. In some cases, the alleged perpetrator is charged with a different and less serious criminal offence.
Sadly, perpetrators of rape have continued to enjoy the crime because the onus of proof lies only with the victims. The victim is the one that must provide the bed sheet used to rape her. She must provide her underwear and not clean herself before going to the police station and the hospital even when it is sure that there would be delays in getting and presenting the report of medical tests because of nature of our health facilities. She must not urinate, drinks liquid or takes any other bodily action as these could threaten her evidence.
Digging into the provisions of the Law on rape and sexual abuses, it is clear that a lot still has to be done if we must achieve a rape/sexual abuse-free society. A bothersome issue is the idea of giving culprit option of paying fine of such amount as ridiculous as N250, 000 which can be easily afforded by the culprit and his family. Of what use is the fine compared to damage caused the rape victims?
As a result of the lack of concern about rape, precise and reliable statistics concerning rape are not available. Rape, has also remained an under-reported crime. This is due basically to insensitive and sometimes hostile treatment by law enforcement personnel. Health centers are another culprit in double or more correctly jeopardy rape victims are suffering in this clime. Dramatic changes have to take place in public attitudes toward rape if we are ready to stem the tide.
The heinous crime represents a slap on our collective sensibility and as such it must be frontally addressed. It is, therefore, essential that all stakeholders work together to make sure that rape does not have a stronghold in our society. Hence, it has now become urgent to amend our laws for rapists to contend with more profound penalty. Rape is too monstrous a crime to be treated with levity. All hand must, thus, be on deck to tackle it!
Ogunbiyi is of the Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos