School director’s daughter links mother to six-year-old pupil’s murder

The High court has heard testimony from the daughter of Jozan Nursery and Primary School director Suzan Vivian Ariokot Okedi, who accused her mother of orchestrating the murder of Primary One pupil Joan Faith Apio in February 2025.
Apio was found dead in a locked school toilet on February 5, 2025. Earlier, the court discharged two juveniles who had admitted involvement in the killing, ruling that they had been manipulated by adults and would instead testify as prosecution witnesses.
Six adults, including school directors Joseph Okedi and Suzan Vivian Ariokot Okedi, headteacher James Edoket, police officer John Bosco Obotol, cook Valentine Opio and matron Osula Adong, are jointly charged with Apio’s murder. They all deny the charges.
State forensic analyst Ambrose Wilber Mugarurwa told court that DNA tests on 18 exhibits confirmed blood found on a jerrycan and the school toilet floor belonged to Apio. He said none of the adult suspects’ DNA matched the exhibits, while DNA from one juvenile witness matched a blue school sweater and a school badge recovered during investigations.
One juvenile witness testified that Ariokot instructed her to lure Apio to the school toilet on the pretext of meeting her father. She said she later saw Ariokot take the child inside, heard screams and later found Apio with a cut throat. The witness further alleged that Ariokot ordered her to fetch a knife, used it to widen the wound, removed an object from the child’s throat and handed it to Obotol in a black polythene bag before threatening to kill her if she revealed what had happened.
Another juvenile witness, identified as the school director’s daughter, told court her mother confessed to killing Apio. She said Ariokot warned her to keep quiet and later returned to the school with Obotol, handed her the toilet keys and ordered her to dispose of them.
The prosecution has so far presented seven of its 10 planned witnesses as the trial continues.