{"id":22969,"date":"2025-10-31T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=22969"},"modified":"2025-10-31T10:00:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T09:00:21","slug":"senator-natasha-akpoti-uduaghan-joins-justiceforochanya-campaign-nigerians-speak-out-we-will-not-forget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/31\/senator-natasha-akpoti-uduaghan-joins-justiceforochanya-campaign-nigerians-speak-out-we-will-not-forget\/","title":{"rendered":"Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Joins #JusticeForOchanya Campaign, Nigerians Speak Out: \u201cWe Will Not Forget\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) has joined renewed calls for justice in the case of 13-year-old Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje, whose death in 2018 after years of alleged sexual abuse sparked national outrage and the viral #JusticeForOchanya movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a post shared Thursday on her official Facebook page, Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed shock that the two primary suspects \u2014 Andrew Ogbuja, a lecturer at Benue State Polytechnic, and his son Victor \u2014 had reportedly been discharged and acquitted by a Benue State court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeven years ago, the heart-wrenching story of little Ochanya devastated me,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI thought the perpetrators were in jail. Alas, they were discharged and acquitted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She urged Ochanya\u2019s family to submit a formal petition to her office at Room 2:05, Senate Wing, National Assembly Complex, Abuja, promising to raise the matter with her Senate colleagues. \u201cFor our children, I stand for justice for Ochanya,\u201d she added, crediting social media advocate #miss_natural1 for reigniting attention to the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The senator\u2019s statement has sparked a wave of emotional responses from Nigerians across social media and civil society:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aisha Yesufu, activist: \u201cOchanya\u2019s story is a painful reminder of how our justice system fails the most vulnerable. We must not let this go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Uche Eze, pediatrician: \u201cThis case broke me as a mother and a doctor. The trauma she endured is unimaginable. Justice must be served.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

@Miss_Natural1, advocate: \u201cThank you, Senator Natasha, for listening. We\u2019ve been screaming for years. Ochanya deserves more than silence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Ogbodo, lawyer: \u201cThe acquittal is a legal tragedy. If this case can be dismissed, what hope do other victims have?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ngozi Okafor, teacher: \u201cI tell my students about Ochanya. Her story is a warning, a lesson, and now, a call to action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

@BenueWatch, local watchdog group: \u201cWe demand a full review of the case. Benue cannot be silent while justice is denied.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fatima Ibrahim, student: \u201cI was 13 when Ochanya died. I\u2019m 20 now, and I still cry when I think of her. She was just a girl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The #JusticeForOchanya campaign continues to trend across platforms, with many calling for legislative reform and accountability. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan\u2019s involvement has reignited hope that the case may be revisited at the federal level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As one user posted simply: \u201cWe will not forget.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABUJA, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central) has joined renewed calls for justice in the case of 13-year-old Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje, whose death in 2018 after years of alleged sexual abuse sparked national outrage and the viral #JusticeForOchanya movement. In a post shared Thursday on her official Facebook page, Akpoti-Uduaghan expressed shock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[159,157,158,155,156,154],"class_list":["post-22969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-naija-news","tag-justiceforochanya","tag-abuja","tag-benue-state-court","tag-benue-state-polytechnic","tag-national-assembly-complex","tag-senator-natasha-akpoti"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Natasha-Senator-640x360-1.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22969"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22977,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22969\/revisions\/22977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}