Rape: Stakeholders demand justice for Keren, Ochanya, others

Stakeholders have called on the authorities to ensure justice for victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the country particularly, the cases of Keren-Happuch Akpagher and Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje who were raped to death some years back. They made the call on Wednesday in Abuja during the unveiling of a book, “Tears from the […]

Stakeholders have called on the authorities to ensure justice for victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in the country particularly, the cases of Keren-Happuch Akpagher and Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje who were raped to death some years back.

They made the call on Wednesday in Abuja during the unveiling of a book, “Tears from the Graves” by Lemmy Ughegbe during an event organised by Men Against Rape Foundation in memory of the late Keren and other victims of sexual violence.

Keren, a 14-year-old student of the Premier Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, died on June 19, 2021, after she was allegedly raped and contracted sepsis.

She was alleged to have died of an infection after a condom was found in her private part.

Ochanya, a 13-year-old girl also died in 2021 after being allegedly raped serially by a lecturer, Andrew Ogbuja, and his son.

Speakers at the event lamented that justice was yet to be done in the case of Keren and Ochanya three years after, tasking the authorities to rise up to the occasion.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Press Corps, Comrade Grace Ike, in her remarks at the event charged lawmakers at the national and state levels to prioritise the establishment of sexual offences courts nationwide in a bid to tackle the menace of sexual abuse in the country.

The journalist, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Federal Capital Territory Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, said the book demonstrates the collective resolve to confront and eradicate this pervasive issue

The book is a collection of poems on sexual and gender-based violence in memory of Keren-Happuch Aondodoo Akpagher and several other victims aimed at creating awareness to comprehensively tackle the vice in society and dedicated to the memory of victims of SGBV.