A report from the ongoing police investigations into the
murder of Joan Faith Apio, a pupil who was killed at Jozan Nursery and
Primary School in Soroti City suggests possible human ritual sacrifice.
Apio, 5, was only two days old in the school when she was
brutally killed by unknown people inside the staff’s toilet. She joined the
school with her twin sister on February 3 and was killed on February 5, 2025.
The
Soroti Resident City Commissioner, Peter Pex Paak says the murder was properly
planned and executed by seven people whom he declined to name.
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Speaking during the requiem mass at Immaculate Conception in
Soroti City on Sunday evening, Paak said that six out of the seven persons
involved in the pupil’s murder have been arrested. He revealed that among those
arrested is a proprietor of another school in Soroti City who convinced the parents to take the twins to Jozan Nursery and Primary School,
instead of his.
Paak said that out of the three areas of investigation, possible human ritual sacrifice weighed above possible school rivalry/sabotage and family wrangles. After the incident, some intelligence pointed to possible school rivalry and competition for fame among private school proprietors or family feuds involving the twins' parents. It’s reported
that the parents were not together at the time of the incident.
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Since the incident, the Police have arrested the director of
the school, Joseph Okedi, and his wife Susan Vivian Okedi; the school’s headteacher,
David Kadimba, the matron, Osula Adongo and another teacher and Okedi’s brother
whose name have not yet been established.
According to Paak, the school will remain closed indefinitely.
He, however, revealed that the parents, whose children sat for the Primary Leaving
Examination (PLE) in the school last year will be allowed to pick results on a
specific day that security officials will announce.
He added that even the
parents whose children’s luggage remained on the school premises by the time of
the closure will be allowed to pick them up on a specific day that will be
communicated to them.
Dr. James Drani, part of the medical team that conducted
the postmortem told mourners that Joan died out of excessive bleeding which
resulted from the deep cut on her neck. Unlike the previous report that
suggested that some body parts of the victim were missing, Dr. Drani said that
the body was intact. The police reports indicate that the murder was committed at
midday when the children were preparing for lunch.
Edward Eninu
Moris OKwi
Freelancer