…Govt, Police have failed us, says deceased’s mother
Family of late 14 year old boarding student of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, Keren-Happuch Aondodoo Akpagher and human rights groups – Keren’s Safe Haven Foundation and Men Against Rape Foundation have organised a public speaking event to mark her 2nd year memorial.
Keren died on the 22nd of June 2021 after being raped and the condom left inside her by a killer-rapist, which infected her with sepsis, compromised her immunity and spiked her blood sugar.
Speaking during the public speaking event tagged Abuja Public Secondary School Challenge on Public Speaking To Raise Awareness of rape and Child Sexual Abuse among students, mother of late Keren and co-convener of the event, Mrs Vivien Vihimga Akpagher said the event was aimed at empowering the students.
“While we continue to seek #justice4keren , we are determined to empower our children with knowledge to identify the “red flag” and courage to speak up and speak out against any semblance of abuse or threat of abuse. This is why we are organising this event and this is what Keren would have wanted. Keren would not want the fate that befell her to befall any other child”, she stated.
On the quest for justice for her late child, Mrs Akpagher decried the failure and lack of commitment of government, the police and other relevant institutions of government in bringing her daughter’s killler-rapist to book.
“They failed my daughter while alive and unto death they have all continued to fail her. They are neither committed nor honest with the process of getting the culprits”, she stated.
Shedding light further she explained thus:
“The police compromise things they should not compromise. Imagine that we told them to share samples of the condom and spermatozoa found in it which was extracted from my daughter and safely preserved by the doctor who first detected that she had been abuse, Dr. Amugo.
“We told them not to carry the entire sample, but share with me and the school for all of us to go do our individual DNA test and matchings with samples taken from the male staff of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja. We told them our request is to enable both parties balance out their results with that of the police for transparency and credibility of the exercise.
“They ignored our official request and went behind us with Premiere Academy officials to Dr. Amugo’s hospital to retrieve the materials without us. You can guess what will become of this compromised process. There is so much to say on this. And at the right time, we will expose all the police did that tainted the process and question their credibility.
Also speaking at the event, the co-convener and Executive Director of Men Against Rape Foundation (MARF), Lemmy Ughegbe reiterated his pledge that “Keren will not be a mere statistics. We shall continue to call out government and the police to do right by God and Keren by bringing the culprit to book.”
“It’s a shame that after two years the police refused and woefully failed to get the CCTV footages from the school Keren attended as a boarding student, which would either vindicate the school or indict it”, Ughegbe lamented.
“The school has 54 CCTV cameras and we told the police that the answers lie in their footages. They failed to act on it. They did not explain why they failed to get those footages. Instead, we heard the school on police radio explaining that their CCTV cameras automatically deletes footages monthly. This claim is quite laughable. And the police with all its expertise failed to recover those deleted footages”, he added.
On the sad coincidence of his birthday being the deathday of Keren, Ughegbe noted “sadly I celebrate my birthday these days very sober as it is the same day this beloved child from rape complications. So, every year from last year, this is my way of celebrating my birthday. If we save, at least, one child each year, then my life is meaningful.
Speaking further, he said “the world is becoming increasingly unsafe for our children especially. Pedophiles are on the prowl. Safe spaces are becoming a mirage. To give our children a fighting chance of safety, we must empower them with knowledge and fortify them with courage to speak out.”
Meanwhile, during the explosive public speaking event, students of Government Secondary School emerged first position, Government Secondary School, Wuye came 2nd and Government Secondary School, Garki came 3rd position.
