The contrasting cases of Elizabeth Ochanya Ogbanje and John Otema highlight the complex challenges of prosecuting sexual violence in Nigeria.

Ochanya, a 13-year-old girl from Benue State, suffered years of abuse and died in 2018. Her case dragged on for nearly five years in a regular High Court, weighed down by conflicting medical reports, weak forensic evidence, and repeated adjournments. By contrast, within two years of his arrest, University of Lagos graduate John Otema was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison for rape and assault. His case, tried at Lagos State’s specialist Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, benefited from clear victim testimony, corroborating evidence, and a streamlined trial process.

These two cases do not only reflect the difference between regular and specialist courts; they also expose how the quality of evidence, prosecutorial capacity, and judicial prioritisation together determine speedy delivery of  justice.

Justice delayed: Ochanya’s long struggle through the courts

In October 2018, 13-year-old Elizabeth Ochanya Ogbanje died after suffering years of sexual abuse while living with the Ochiga-Ogbuja’s family to get a better education in Ugbokolo, Benue State.

Andrew Ochiga-Ogbuja and his son, Victor Ochiga-Ogbuja, both maternal relations of the deceased, were accused of serially raping her.

Ochanya spent four months in diapers’ before seventeen tests revealed that she was sexually violated through her vagina and anus. Doctors later diagnosed Ochanya with Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF) and she was admitted at the Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi for two months before she died on October 17, 2018.

Although Ochanya’s death sparked national outrage, the pursuit of justice moved at a slow pace.

Ochiga-Ogbuja, a lecturer at the state polytechnic was arrested and remanded in custody while his son, Victor was on the run.

Her case was filed before a regular High Court in Makurdi. This meant competing with a backlog of civil, criminal, and land disputes, infrequent hearings, and repeated adjournments.

Nearly four years later, on April 28, 2022, a High Court in the state acquitted Ochiga-Ogbuja, ruling that the prosecution failed to meet the burden of proof while his wife, Felicia Ochiga-Ogbuja in a separate Federal High Court was convicted of negligence and received a five-month prison sentence without the option of a fine. 

When Ochiga-Ogbuja and his wife were arraigned in October 2019, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons (NAPTIP) presented medical reports, video testimony from the victim, and eight witnesses, including police, medical experts, and family members. 

However, two conflicting autopsies clouded the narrative, one local autopsy attributed Ochanya’s death to natural causes, while another in Lagos suggested sexual violence. 

The court found a gap in the lack of provision of a  deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) evidence or other forensic linkage to Ogbuja, leading to his acquittal.

However, critics condemned the judgment as a technical victory devoid of substantive justice. 

One of the advocates, Onikepo Braithwaite noted that “matching a perpetrator’s specimen to the victim should not be the only standard to prove rape.”

Justice delivered: Otema’s swift conviction in Lagos

Meanwhile, in sharp contrast, while Ochanya’s case was ongoing, a University of Lagos graduate John Otema was handed a 50-year prison sentence for raping a student. 

Otema was accused of having sexual intercourse with two students without their consent. For student A the incident happened on January 31, 2018 at his home while the incident with Student B had earlier happened on January 17,  where he was accused of physically assaulting her around DLI in UNILAG by hitting her several times in the face and biting her back.

According to the prosecution, Otema had asked B for directions to Moremi Hall and compelled her to enter his car under the pretext of giving her a ride.

Upon entering the car, Otema, however, locked the car doors and drove to DLI, where he assaulted her by punching her in the face several times, biting her back, ordering her to undress and taking her nude photos.

In August 2020 the case was tried at the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja.  During the trial, the prosecution called six witnesses, which included the two victims and supporting documentation to form a compelling narrative.

The judge, Abiola Soladoye found Otema guilty of raping and assaulting student B.

The case was concluded in less than two years, without procedural stalling or multiple adjournments unlike Ochanya’s case that took over four years. 

The Federal High Court claimed that Ochanya’s case was weakened early on by contradictions in the medical findings, a lack of forensic corroboration, no DNA, and  no biological evidence tying Ochiga-Ogbuja to the crime. 

How specialist courts make a difference

Ochanya’s case illustrates how easily justice can falter within Nigeria’s overstretched judiciary. Regular courts handle an overwhelming mix of criminal, civil, and land disputes, often leading to adjournments, procedural delays, and limited forensic capacity. In sexual violence cases, these delays are especially damaging evidence weakens over time, and survivors are forced to endure prolonged retraumatisation.

By contrast, the Otema trial shows what is possible when both evidence and judicial structures are strong. The case benefited from clear, well-documented testimony and supporting proof, as well as a specialist court designed to fast-track sexual-offence matters.

The Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja was established to give such cases priority. Freed from competing dockets and unnecessary procedural hurdles, it could move quickly and decisively, demonstrating how specialised courts can transform outcomes in gender-based violence trials.

By contrast, Otema’s conviction makes a case for specialist courts which:

• Prioritisation – GBV cases are not competing with other cases.
• Speed – streamlined processes reduce adjournments and delays.
• Focus – trained judges and prosecutors handle sensitive GBV matters.
• Survivor-sensitive trials – reducing prolonged trauma for victims.

In 2018, during the inauguration of special offences court in Lagos, the then, deputy governor of Lagos, Oluranti Adebule who represented his principal said, “I am particularly glad about the designation of two courts to handle sexual related offences as it complements our fight against sexual abuse.

“These sexual offences courts will have trained and experienced prosecutors to interact with survivors, provide support and ensure timely prosecution of the cases.”