Keren’s death: Deceased’s mother withdraws N10bn suit against Premier Academy

Mother of the late Keren-Happuch Aondodoo, a 14-year-old boarding student of Premier Academy, Vivien Akpagher, has withdrawn the N10 billion lawsuit she filed against the school over the controversial death of her daughter.

Mrs. Akpagher had, in the said suit, accused the school, Premiere Academy, Lugbe, of negligence and failure of a duty of care to her daughter.

The deceased had contracted sepsis after she was allegedly raped in her boarding school and died on June 22, 2021, from medical complications caused by a condom that was left inside her private part after the alleged rape.

In an emotional press conference in Abuja, yesterday, the deceased mother narrated how several efforts to get justice for her late daughter were frustrated by the school and the Nigeria police.

Given a graphic picture of such attempts, Mrs Akpagher, who was in company of the Executive Director, Men Against Rape Foundation (MARF), Mr Lemmy Ughegbe, narrated how the police had, after collecting N800,000.00 from her as mobilisation turned around to frustrate the investigation.

She alleged: “They failed to conduct impartial investigation, instead they allowed the school to dictate to them who to interview, including students whom the school had coached. They even summoned me to the station to investigate me for hearsay claims by a parent of one of their students, that I was never at home to take care of Keren, who was in a boarding house.

“The question you all should ask is – how does my being at home save my child from being raped in the custody of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja.

Then the FCT Police Command eventually started using all sorts of arm-twisting tactics to prevent us from seeking justice for Keren;

Akpagher revealed further: “Since the death of my beloved child, Keren, whom I entrusted to the management of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, in their boarding care, neither relevant government agencies nor the police have been sensitive, faithful or committed to fishing out the culprit or culprits, who did not only rape her, but sodomised and left condom inside her while threatening and numbing her into silence.

“Upon reporting the complaint of rape and death of my daughter to the FCT Police Command on the 22nd of June, 2021, and identified Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja as the prime suspect since she was a boarding student there, in addition to credible intelligence given to me by a staff of the school that a few days earlier (16th of June, 2021), that Keren was in pains, crying and unable to walk to class from the hostel, what did the police do? The police asked me for a mobilisation fee of N1.2 million to start work. I eventually gave them N800,000.

“We had hoped that with the then DCP Gender (now CP), Margaret Ochalla, that fairness and equity would be investigated. But sadly, she also compromised the case. Lemmy Ughegbe and I shared credible intelligence with her on their retrieving footage from the 54 CCTV cameras in Premiere Academy Lugbe, Abuja. We argued that since a senior member of staff disclosed that the child could not walk to class and had to be helped by her classmates in tears and pain, CCTV footage would unravel what had happened.

“To our utter shock, instead of the police swinging into action and going for the footage, they called the school to politely request them to bring footage. Where on earth is that a professional practice? Where do you ask a suspect to bring evidence that may incriminate him? In the end, the school claims that “their CCTV footage automatically delete themselves at the end of every month.

Take note that the school, which has offered that unbelievable excuse was able to preserve the footage of 19th of June, but could not preserve the real evidence of 15th and16th of June?

“Assuming without conceding that they were honest, committed police would have recovered the footage, but not a compromised one. We said we needed to be part of the process of DNA matching. But when the police wanted to go and collect the debris of condom and dead spermatozoa to do DNA matching with suspects from the school, they did not notify us. Instead, they went to the hospital with the school and collected everything, not samples. This is evidence of a lopsided investigation and collusion to compromise the evidence and that is exactly what they did. As we speak, because their hands are not clean, two years later, they cannot tell us the result.

“We wish to put on record how the then Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, rebuffed us and paid no heed to our cries for justice for Keren. The National Human Rights Commission failed to tell us the outcome of our petition received from Lemmy Ughegbe, seeking justice for Keren. The same fate befell us at the FCT Social Development Secretariat. A clear case of the conspiracy of silence and inaction by stakeholders who should drive the process for justice.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director, Men Against Rape Foundation (MARF), Lemmy Ughegbe, has advised against any person or organisation embarking on propaganda while Keren’s mother and family begins the heeling process.

“My organisation and I will rebuff any propaganda and match them strength for strength, if they do not allow the family to heal”, Ughegbe said.