Only truth can unravel misery behind Keren’s death -Premiere Academy

The management of Premiere Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, has appealed to stakeholders, who are directly or indirectly concerned about the death of the 14-year-old Miss Keren Akpagher, an SS 1 pupil of the school, to allow truth and justice be the guiding principle as Police and other concerned bodies move to unravel the misery behind her sudden death.

Karen was said to have died on June 22 under a questionable circumstance.

Speaking at a press briefing organised by the management to address some recent developments about the young school girl’s death, in Abuja on Friday, the Lead Director at the Academy, Mrs. Stella Oluremi Fawehinmi, said: “It’s sad and touching that the death of our daughter, our pride is being twisted by 5th columnist to score goals. While we mourn the death of our dear student in peace as we pray for the peaceful repose of her soul, it is very heart-rending that we have to respond to controversies that seem to be generated to cast aspersions on the school.”

Fawehinmi, who described the death of Keren as a huge loss to the school said she was not happy with the trend of things in recent times, considering the commitment of the school to efforts being made to get to the root of the circumstance surrounding Keren’s death.

“Some things are not adding up and we are disturbed. One, there is no truth in the fact that the young girl left our school sick or that she was aided while going to write her test.

“Mrs Akpagher claimed at a recent press conference and on numerous occasions that Miss Keren was distraught when she came to pick her up. This is far from the truth as Keren was in a stable condition when she was released to her mother on that Saturday.

“It was also embarrassing to us when we heard that we were working hand in hand with the Police to frustrate the investigation into the incident. What do we stand to gain?

“The school sees the GBV Responders’ allegations of the school’s connivance with the police to scuttle the investigation as nothing more than a cheap blackmail and an attempt to manipulate public opinion. Keren was our industrious daughter, who despite her undermining health challenge, struggled to be an international and global asset by taking her medications daily.

“Her mother, Mrs Akpagher is also a valued parent to us and we enjoy a good relationship. One of her sons had passed out here successfully; another son is currently in S.S 3.

“Until the unexpected death of Keren, she knew how painstaking we were about managing the heath challenge the innocent girl was facing. Even when she took her from home to a certain Hospital and later called the school, our patron promptly showed up and played the role she should have played,” she stated.

Midway to the press briefing, Fawehinmi, had paused and implored journalists to watch the CCTV footage, detailing the last moments of Keren at Premiere Academy. In the footage, the late school girl was seen hugging and bidding her mates bye as she was making an attempt to follow her mum home for weekends. The footage also showed the 14-year-old girl while going for her usual check up at the clinic and to her classroom for a test, among other details.
On Miss Keren’s release to her mother, the school maintained that her mother made two requests on Keren’s last day in the school. The first, according to Fawehinmi, was that Miss Keren be taken to a particular ophthalmologist for consultation and treatment of the eye issue she presented earlier in the day. The school medical staff was said to have acceded to this request and accompanied Keren to the requested clinic and stayed with her all through the consultation and treatment at the eye clinic.

“It was at the clinic that Keren’s mother made the second request – to take Keren home for the weekend. This request could not be granted at the clinic as the school’s medical staff who accompanied Keren to the clinic does not have the capacity to grant such a request. She insisted on taking Keren back to school.
Mrs Akpagher left her daughter to the medical staff who took her back to the school. Later, the same day, Mrs Akpagher came to the school and made a formal request to take her daughter home and the school obliged and she took Keren home. What she referred to as reluctance of the school could be the insistence of the medical staff on taking Keren back to the school from the clinic as was required of her,” she stated.

On the claim by Keren’s mother that the doctor at the hospital where she died said that he found a condom with dead sperms in her uterus and opined that Keren had died of sepsis, Fawehinmi said the school didn’t have the report and so couldn’t comment on this, adding that it was good to note that when the school learned of Keren’s hospitalization, the management sent a team to visit her at the hospital.

“The team, which had the school’s medical staff in it, wondered why Keren was tied to her sick bed and was told that she had hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar), was sedated and later went into a coma.

“It should be noted that Keren was a documented diabetic who has been on a twice-daily insulin injection. While we administered the first dose of insulin injection to Keren in the morning of the day she was released to her mother, the school does not know if this treatment regime was continued while she was at home.”

While calling for calm and urging all to await the result of the autopsy, the school director said it was also worthy to note that throughout their interaction with Keren’s mother during her daughter’s hospitalization and their condolence visits to the house, she never brought up the issue of sexual molestation. (THISDAY)