Investigation into Keren Akpegher’s death will be thorough, say Police

The ongoing investigation into the controversial death of the 14-year-old Senior Secondary (SS1) student of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Keren Akpegher, will be thorough, the Nigerian police have said.

This came just as authorities of the Academy established over 15 years ago, have warned those capitalising on the unfortunate incident to attempt to blackmail the school well known for the moral high ground, discipline, thoroughness, and academic prowess.

Public Relations Officer, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), police command, Yusuf Mariam, told Nigerian Tribune that the FCT Commissioner of Police, has since ordered an investigation into the incident and that the investigation would be thorough.

She, therefore, called on Nigerians to be patient as the outcome of the investigation would be made public when the exercise is concluded.

When asked about the autopsy report allegedly being withheld by the police, Yusuf, said that was not true, insisting that the police have maintained an unbiased position on the matter and that once the report of investigation is available it would be made public.

The unfortunate death of the 14-year-old girl has continued to be shrouded in controversy with the mother, Mrs Vivian Akpagher, insisting that her daughter was raped while also narrating how condom and sperm discharge were found in the deceased’s private part before her death.

Meanwhile, speaking with Tribune Online, one of the directors of Premiere Academy, Mr Kayode Akintunde said the decision of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to take over the investigation of the Karen Akegher rape issue was a welcome development.

He spoke against the backdrop of the alleged campaign against the school by the Coalition of Gender-Based Violence Responders, over what Akintunde described as unfounded allegations.

He said: “The “NHRC” decision to take over the investigation of the Keren Akpegher rape issue is a welcome development because it is becoming clearer that the leader of the Coalition of Gender-Based Violence Responders, Lemmy Ughegbe, is more interested in destroying the Premiere Academy than what he is professing.

“We are mourning the death of one of our students, looking for ways to unravel the circumstances that led to her death so that the culprit can be exposed and punished, but Mr Ughegbe just came in, hijacked the entire process, became the investigator, the judge, castigating the school authorities, the police, the DSS, he even said armed thugs came to his house threatening his life and that of his family.

“We are all parents, nobody is happy about what happened when I now heard that Mr Ughegbe also has a school in our neighbourhood here in Lugbe, then I wondered that this man should understand how the management would feel when something like this happens or does he want to destroy the school so that his own school can grow? Must you destroy others to grow?

“He labels the school as a den of rapists and that we are shielding perpetrators, but how can one establish a high profile school like this and indulge in such immorality?

“Our mission here is to nurture dependable future leaders, since the past 15 years, Premiere Academy has produced great people who are excelling in their various fields of endeavours. Mr Ughegbe should fear God, this blackmail is more than enough.

“If he has any evidence, let him give it to the National Human Rights Commission to do their investigation, he should stop hopping from one television station to another in his new celebrity status and the financial gratifications that may follow, he should let the law take its course and the culprit exposed and punished.”

Acting Principal of Premiere Academy, Mr Chris Akinsowon, also insisted that the girl was released to the mother in good health to spend the weekend with her only for the school to be informed of her hospitalisation to the following day.

The acting principal, who provided further clarifications on the alleged assault of the deceased student, however, maintained that Keren’s autopsy result was not yet out, stressing that it is part of the investigation the school insists must be allowed to take its course and earnestly awaits the result.

“The autopsy result is not out yet. It is a part of the investigation process the school insists must be allowed to take its course. We earnestly await the result and plead that nothing should be said to pre-empt whatever the outcome might be,” he said.

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