21 years after Father Tansi, Catholic Church set to canonise slain teenage virgin

FAR from the maddening crowd, she refused to join the stampede. At a time when so many young girls of her age sought for a life of fortune and fame by engaging in ungodly pursuits, she chose to maintain a splendid isolation, consumed in church activities. And for that, Vivian Uchechi Ogu, who lived by the  tenet which holds that a life without Christ is crisis could emerge as the second Catholic saint from Nigeria, 21 years after the beatification of Reverend Father Cyprian Iwene Tansi by Pope John Paul 11 in 1998 at Oba, Anambra State, should the Vatican process leading to the beatification and canonisation of the young girl sail through.

The 14-year-old virgin girl, born and raised in Benin, Edo State, but a native of Aboh Mbaise, Imo State, was murdered by a gang of armed robbers who abducted her and failed in their attempt to defile her after raiding the family home in Benin.

The men of the underworld had tried to rape her in the bush off Sapele Road in the dead of the night but when she refused to be fouled, they pumped hot lead at her chest in anger, snuffing life out of her.

Born on April 1st, 1995, Vivian, the second born in a family of four, was said to have loved preaching the word of God and immersed herself deeply in Christianity. In and out of season, she is said to have ceaselessly preached the virtues of Maria Goretti Catholic Church, her favourite saint, extolling young Christians to live a life of faith and friendship with Jesus and continuously instructed them on the value of virginity.

Time and again, she fondly quoted Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians: “Your body is the temple of the Lord. Keep it until you are married.” The Senior Secondary 2 student probably didn’t have any inkling that Sunday, November 15, 2009, was going to be her last day on earth.

The striking heroism in the story of young Vivian is in the remarkable way in which she expressed her Catholic faith, having extraordinary influence on the life of others from the tender age of nine and the courage with which she put into practice what she preached when the opportunity came at the age of 14, opting to be killed rather than be defiled.

It was more of a celebration of a short life lived fully for the glory of God as personalities which included Pope Francis, represented by Guampetno dal Toso; Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki; his deputy, Phillip Shaibu;. John Cardinal Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop  of Abuja, Archbishop Augustine Akubeze, President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and other dignitaries took turns to eulogize the life and times of the teenager.

The dignitaries who spoke last Sunday, at an open mass shortly after the closing ceremony of the National Mission Congress of Nigeria at the Vivian Ogu Missionary Animation Centre, Benin City, all agreed that her life of piety and chastity was worth emulating by the youths of today.

Represented by the Archbishop Guampetno Dal Toso, the International President of Pontifical Mission Societies, the Catholic pontiff remarked that Vivian was a shiny example to all Christians not only in Nigeria but all over the world.

Pope Francis said: “She showed us how we can live our faith without minding the consequences.”

The Pope said he was very happy that we have here in Nigeria this model of a young woman who gave her life for her fidelity to her faith.

Governor Obaseki remarked that the late Vivian who is set to be beatified and canonised by the Vatican led an exemplary holy life which  has become an enduring legacy for the present and future generation.

The governor said that the teenager died for what she believed in rather than succumbing  to the whim and caprices of the armed robbers who shot and killed her for refusing to be raped.

He said: “We are here in memory of the life of a young girl who at the age of 14 paid the supreme price for her refusal to be raped by the armed robbers that robbed her family that fateful night.

“At this junction, it is my esteemed pleasure to welcome all of you to Benin City on this memorable occasion for the consecration of the grounds on which Vivian Ogu was martyred.

“Believe me, this is the most befitting honour in preserving the memory of untimely and painful death of a heroine who strongly affirmed her belief in the teaching and doctrine of her Christian faith.”

Many at the open air mass attended by thousands of Catholic faithful in memory of Vivian were moved to tears when. Onaiyekan declared that God has a message which He wants to pass across to the world through her death, stressing that there had been series of similar tragedies in the country yet there is no much news about them but Vivian’s case has proven otherwise.

The cleric said: “You must see the hand of God in this. How many times have we been hearing that armed robbers killed people? This is not the first time armed robbers are killing people but this particular case is special.

“It must be because God wants to use her to tell a story that we are so anxious to try to save our lives and in that, like the governor said, in an effort to save our lives, we give in to everything thinking that we are saving our lives whereas Jesus said those who want to save their lives will loose it and those who loose their lives for his sake will gain it.

“The question I ask as we sit down now today, is, is Vivian dead?”, he asked.

Also speaking, Archbishop Augustine Akubeze, President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) remarked that the death of the teenager was a clarion call for Christians to practice their faith.

“She preached purity of life and she died protecting that and it is a sign for all young people to practice their faith, she practiced her faith till the end and that is why the church is even promoting her and people like her so that others young people and adults will emulate them and do what they should do”, Akubeze said.

The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Most Rev. Augustine Obiora Akubueze who disclosed this yesterday in Benin explained that the process for her sainthood was already in motion.

Rev. Akubueze disclosed for her beatification will be further boosted tomorrow when Pope Francis’ representative presides over a ceremony slated for pilgrimage site named after the slain virgin, the Vivian Ogu Mission Animation Centre, Benin City.

The centre will be set up at the murder scene of the teenager was reportedly murdered by the assailants when she resisted being raped.

The Pope’s envoy will be joined by Catholic Bishops in Nigeria who are presently in Benin for an extraordinary national mission congress.

Reverend Akubueze who made a short remark on the life of Vivian and heroic death in the hands of the gunmen said that she “joins Reverend Tansi, the other Nigerian Saint figure whose lives are recommended on November 15, 2009.”

At the Holy Mass which was celebrated by 21 bishops, the Benin bishop in his homily noted that the congress will also examine ways of ensuring that Christian faithful are well cared for spiritually and materially as part of preparations for the purpose of missionary work.

Her profile titled Vivian Uchechi Ogun (1995-200) as published by the Holy See, in Guide for the International Celebration of the extraordinary Missionary Month, 2019 captured her short but eventful life. Baptized at St Paul Catholic Church on Airpi it Road, Benin on July 1, 1995, she received her first holy communion at the same parish on March 21, 2005.

Consistently first in her class right from kindergarten to primary and secondary school, she dreamt of being either a lawyer to defend the downthroden or break barriers as an aeronautical engineer, a field where women fear to tread.

The church encouraged the participation of children and young people in the Sunday Eucharist by offering a special Bible activity for them during the Last of the World and then having them having them join their parents for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

At only nine, according to the profile, Vivian began to openly demonstate her zeal and courage in speaking to other children of the dignity of purity and virginity after Mass when the children received further readings from the parish.

The Holy See publication continued: “Young but committed, she joined the Sunday School Community as it was known then and later the choir. She readily took part in all special events such as the yearly Children Day Celebration, the Annual Children Mission Day and the Christmas Carol Service as well as the end of year Thanksgiving where the children are given the responsibility of organizing liturgical activities for the day.

“Against the backdrop of her deep conviction and love for God and fellow children, she proposed the idea of periodic sacrifice. She encouraged the children to engage in various acts of mortification for salvation, for their personal conversion, and for the material and spiritual needs of the neediest children in the parish and the world.

“During her tenure as the first President of the Pontifical Association of the Holy Children (PAHC) in 2006, she worked tirelessly during the 2008 Children’s Day to collect money to cover the medical expenses of some children from two orphanages in Benin.

“Moved by her love for the Word of God, Vivian decided to commit herself to writing her understanding of the Gospels. She was at chapter 16 of the Gospel of St. Mathew when the assailants fired the shots, which were heard in the Vatican, in anger.”

A pilgrim, Mary who claimed to have known the martyr aptly summed up: “Vivacious Vivian, no doubt fought a fair fight for Christ and kept the faith till the very end. I am supremely confident that laid up for her is a crown of righteousness.”

A pilgrim, Mary who claimed to have known the martyr aptly summed up: “Vivacious Vivian, no doubt fought a fair fight for Christ and kept the faith till the very end. I am sure that laid up for her will be a crown of righteousness.