The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic, ASUP, Benue State Polytechnic chapter, Ugbokolo, has broken the silence on the rape case hanging around the neck of one of its memebrs, Andrew Ogbuja.
Ogboja, Head of Department, Catering and Hotel Management at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Benue State, and his son, Victor Inalegwu Ogboja, a final year student of Animal Production at the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, were accused of sexually molesting a 13-year-old Ochanya Ogbaje to death.
Ochanya battled Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) and other health complications at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi after being allegedly severely abused by duo.
She died last weekend.
Speaking on the incident for the first time, ASUP said they were not informed of the incident before it was taken to court.
A statement jointly signed by Comrades Ochogwu and Emma Ada chairman and Publicity Secretaty of ASUP Benpoly, said they would not make further comment on the issue since it is before a competent court of law.
The statement reads:
“The union wish to state in every clear term that no body from any quarter had any any point in time petitioned the school or the union about the activities of the staff in question to what he is currently in trial for.
“The union was further handicapped in that the issue was not something between a staff and a student or a staff and another staff with no complaint to work on, the union could only watch as events unfold from the court.
“The families of the staff and that of the little Ochanya kept and treated the matter as family issue and none of them nor their relatives saw the need to petition the school nor the union with a view to initiating an investigation into the matter and making recommendations thereof.
“The union wish to state here that since the matter is already before a competent court of law, making further comment on the issue will amount to prejudice thus to encourage the all concerned persons to allow the law take its full course in this regard.”
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