THE OCHANYA CRY
She was thirteen... But her story AGED a nation. Her laughter, snatched. Her innocence blongioned She bled into tradition where truth Was cross-examined and silenced. The parents named her Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje - In the court world, she was just anither case file. An evidence. Mere exhibit. Story of another girl-child turned a whispers. She was only eight… When monsters wore the mask of family. A home meant as learning safe haven Became a laboratory of distraught Each night, another lesson in assault. Each dawn, a new chapter of shame. As a cousin turned sexual predator. His father sooner joined as accomplice. While his mother, her aunt, looked away. Warned to maintain silence like everyone A noisy silence, more hurtful than the rape. And the system? Ah—Nigeria’s justice system— They dressed in wigs white as innocence, but their hands dripped red with neglect. Gavel pounding on her grave instead of her rapists. Law turned to lullaby— singing the monsters to sleep. They said, “No pr...