Government silence on Ochanya's case sends dangerous signals

By Sofiyyah Layole

The deafening silence from the government regarding the case of the late Ochanya Ogbaje sends a deeply troubling message about Nigeria's commitment to child protection.

In the past week, activists and individuals have revived calls on social media to reopen the case of Ochanya, the bright 13-year-old girl who tragically lost her life in 2018 after enduring years of horrific abuse by people she trusted.

Ochanya’s story is both shocking and heartbreaking, yet the most damning indictment of Nigeria’s system is that her case made it to court, and still, the alleged perpetrators walk free. A powerful documentary even captured Ochanya herself describing the trauma inflicted upon her. But like too many tragedies in Nigeria, the case has faded from public conversation long before justice was served.

This inertia is a recurring pattern. Just last week, the Senate passed a bill prescribing life imprisonment for child marriage, a celebrated step toward protecting girls. Days later, however, the familiar, painful cycle resumed: a man was reported to have violated his two young daughters, aged five and two. Despite an arrest, there has been minimal action, no official press briefing, and no sustained nationwide outrage. Another critical child protection case is quietly slipping into obscurity.

There must be decisive action. Justice must prevail, and culprits must face real, swift consequences. Silence and lenient penalties convey a dangerous message: that every time a man defiles a child, the pattern will be predictable, a media uproar, angry social media comments, a brief arrest, and then silence. This effectively tells abusers they will always get away with it.

Ochanya did not die because evil is powerful; she died because silence is more powerful. She died because the systems built to protect children are fundamentally weak and because adults around her looked away for too long.

Ochanya’s story raises painful questions. For years, she suffered abuse in the home of a guardian who should have protected her. She left her village in search of education a basic human right because her community lacked schools, which is itself a violation of basic rights. Instead of receiving swift action to equip her village with schools and execute justice against her abusers, her case became another painful example of how justice in Nigeria drags its feet when the victim is a child and the accused is influential.

Until the government enforces new laws, like the child marriage bill, as quickly and truthfully as less urgent legislation, these crimes will not stop. As long as the cycle continues statements, anger, promises, but no discipline children will remain unsafe.

What does this say about us as a people? We claim to value children, yet we fail them repeatedly. We pass laws, then abandon victims. Our communities protect the powerful and shame the vulnerable.

When a child speaks up, they are accused of lying; when a family demands accountability, they are pressured to "settle privately."

The truth is stark: Nigeria is not a safe country for children. This reality holds true in homes, in schools, in religious spaces, and even in the courts, where child safety cases often drag on until hope dies.

That Senate bill prescribing life imprisonment means close to nothing if the system still struggles to enforce existing child protection laws. It means nothing if the police still treat child safety cases as "family issues," and if victims still fear speaking up because they know society will punish them, not their abusers.

We need real structural change: fast-track courts dedicated to child protection cases, safe houses for rescued children in every state, mandatory reporting laws, thoroughly trained investigators, and actual, meaningful punishments. Nigeria requires national commitment and political willingness to build a system that fundamentally believes children first and protects their rights.

Nigeria does not need more media drama; it needs discipline and direction. The nation must decide whether children matter or not. Forgetting children like Ochanya is precisely why cases of child assault continue. Nigeria failed Ochanya once. The country cannot afford to fail her sisters and brothers too.