The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Soroti, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Angry residents have set ablaze a section of Jozan Nursery and Primary School in protest against the failure to physically produce suspects in court. The suspects were arrested in connection to the death of a pupil, Joan Faith Apio.
Apio, 5, was only two days old in the school when she was reportedly killed inside the staff’s toilet. She joined the school with her twin sister on February 3 and was killed on February 5, 2025.
The suspects are Suzan Vivian Ariokot Okedi, 38, and her husband Joseph Okedi who are the directors of Jozan Nursery and Primary School, James Edoket the Head teacher, John Bosco Obotol, 34, the police officer attached to Madera police station in Soroti City East, Osula Adong the school matron, Valentine Opio, the school cook and two juveniles accused of luring Apio to the murder scene.
On Thursday, the Grade One Magistrate, Kibirige Apollo Kasujja, adjourned the case to March 20, 2025, after the suspects appeared via zoom. The magistrate informed the packed court that the suspects could not be produced physically because of the sensitivity of the case.
Before the hearing of the case started, several people had pitched camp in and around the court premises, prompting heavy security deployment. The security teams were forced to block hundreds of people.
While the proceedings were taking place in court, several other people within Soroti City were following the matter on a live link provided by the activists seeking justice for Apio’s family.
Immediately after the adjournment, several people took to the streets, and others ran to Jozan School and torched the headteacher’s office, school canteen, store, and dormitories, expressing dissatisfaction with the handling of the case.
Angel Eveline Akol, the mother of Joan Faith Apio, demanded that she wants to see the suspects who were arrested and on trial over her child’s murder.
In response to the incident, the police water fire brigade intervened to extinguish the fire while the anti-riots police fired tear gas and live bullets to disperse the crowds.
The Soroti Resident City Commissioner, Peter Pex Paak last month indicated that the murder was probably planned.
Speaking during a requiem mass at Immaculate Conception in Soroti City, Paak said 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 areas of investigation include possible human ritual sacrifice, possible school rivalry or sabotage and family wrangles.
After the incident, 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.
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.
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 alleged murder was committed at midday when the children were preparing for lunch.
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