Losing a child to a rapist is traumatic for a mother, but the fading hope of getting justice is worse. The ICIR’s LUKMAN ABOLADE and IJEOMA OPARA write about the emotional trauma of Keren-Happuch’s mother as she awaits justice in a Police investigation that has taken different turns.

MONTHS after her daughter’s death, Vivienne Akphager rubs her hands together to restrain herself from crying. Moments later, she unfolds them and wipes tears that stroll down her cheeks as she narrates how she lost her only daughter, Keren-Happuch.

Fourteen-year-old Keren-Happuch was raped, and health complications from the incident reportedly cut her life short.

Keren was more than a daughter; she was also a friend who would pay close attention to the little things about her mother.

“When she is around, she would say ‘Mummy, you need to make your hair, you need to buy new clothes for yourself,” Vivienne says.

She shared a close relationship with her daughter. When her daughter was on break from school, they would always visit places together.

“I would always go out with her when she was not in school. I love country music but she listened to Nigerian songs. On our way out, she would always complain and ask me to change the song,” Vivienne narrates with hint of smile on her teary face.

One of Vivienne’s favourite moments with her late daughter was when she hosted her friends in her house. Although her mother had gone to work, Keren exchanged several WhatsApp messages with her, seeking guidance on how to cook rice for her friends.

Keren loved music; she danced to them often, according to her Tik Tok videos seen by The ICIR.

Her mother says she often danced to entertain her family and to convince them to dance with her.

But the Akpagher’s family house has been left with no more dancing. Only still picture frames of Keren hang on the wall to keep her memories alive.

Broken ties

Keren was not only close to her mother, she also had a mutual relationship with her grandmother, Bason Ivoh.

Though Bason lived in Benue State, she and Keren exchanged gifts with each other constantly. Karen’s grandmother says she called her Dee-Kwasi, meaning (Female Dee).

“When she was a kid, she would send me gifts. Sometimes, she would call me to send her gifts. When I was around, she would always hug me whenever she returned from school. She would look at me with love and that made me very happy,” she says.

Bason says that she would often call her name when she lay on the chair, but Keren never answered her like she used to after the gory incident.

“I don’t know how I can forget this. Sometimes, when I lay down, I would call out to her: ‘Dee-Kwasi, where are you?’ But I don’t get a response now. I cannot forget her.

“When I heard the news, I nearly died, and I was taken to the hospital before I got better,” she says.

Her older brother, Josh Akphagher, says he is yet to come to terms with his sister’s death.

Josh tells The ICIR that Keren was very close to him, but despite their closeness, she still showed him respect.

MORE ON THIS STORY HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/keren-happuch-long-wait-for-justice-bruises-a-mothers-heart/

Truly pathetic. May the Good Lord console the family.

sad
nowhere is safe