Amnesty International in Nigeria has lamented that justice is yet to be served in the death of Keren Akpagher.
Keren, who was a boarding student at Premiere Academy Lugbe in Abuja, died in June 2021.
She had developed sepsis from an infection attributed to a condom said to have been left in her by a rapist.
A report to the family by Queen’s Hospital Abuja said condom particles and dead sperm were found in her vagina.
The FCT police had commenced an investigation into the case but the family sought for it to be transferred to the force criminal investigation department (FCID), alleging the former was compromised in its handling of the matter.
An autopsy was later conducted in July 2021 while the ministry of education also waded in to probe the case.
The house of representatives had also directed that a DNA test be conducted on the male staff at the school to fish out the culprit.
The lower legislative chamber, in December 2021, also set up a panel for an investigative public hearing on the case.
However, nothing has since been heard of the panel’s activities. The panel’s probe had also yet to commence as of June 2022.
In a joint statement with the bereaved family, Amnesty said it has been over one year since Keren’s death.
It also expressed concern that the family is yet to get justice.
Amnesty raised a number of questions it said still need answers.
“So many questions are left unanswered. Why has Premiere Academy failed to provide the CCTV footage of 15 and 16 June 2021, which could aid in unravelling the reason why Keren could not walk to class on 16 June,” it said.
“How come Premiere Academy retrieved and exhibited the CCTV footage of 19 June 2021 but claimed that the footage of 15 and 16 June 2021 have been deleted by the default setting of their system?
“Why has the Nigeria police refused to give official copies of the medical and autopsy reports to the family of Keren?
“Why has the school refused to cooperate with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) which is investigating the school over the alleged failure of service delivery to Keren.
“Why did Premiere Academy file an application at the Federal High Court Abuja, seeking to stop the FCCPC from investigating the circumstances, which led to the death of Keren?
“Why have the Ministries of Women Affairs and Education not lived up to their responsibilities by intervening in the case to ensure that justice is served? What is the life of a Nigerian girl worth?
“One year after her death, families, and friends are yet to get justice; the perpetrator and all those suspected of complicity in the cover-up of the heinous crime remain neither prosecuted nor punished.”
Amnesty called on the government to initiate an independent investigation on what caused Keren’s death
It also asked that protection be guaranteed for Keren’s mother Vivien Akpagher, her family, and the activist Lemmy Ughegbe.
TheCable had, in May, published a two-part series chronicling some student death cases that occurred on the back of alleged sexual harassment, bullying, and corporal punishment across Nigerian secondary schools.
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What happened to her is distressing. My sympathy is with the family of the victim.
It’s sad that the relevant authorities who were meant to protect her failed her. And that even now continue to fail her and her loved ones by not bringing justice to the perpetrator.
The DNA testing might be of little help now since there is no database for it to be compared to. But it will be of great significance in determining the guilt of any possible suspects.
I hope that the justice system finally takes its responsibility to find her assailant.