Updated by HICGI News Agency at 1507 EAT on Tuesday 25 August 2026

The proprietor of Jozan Nursery and Primary School, Suzan Vivian Ariokot, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the ritual murder of a five-year-old pupil, Joan Faith Apio, in February 2025.

Ariokot’s husband, Joseph Okedi, and police officer John Bosco Obotol were also convicted of murder and sentenced to 35 and 45 years in prison, respectively, by Soroti High Court Resident Judge Boniface Wamala.

Apio was killed at the school on February 5, 2025, in what the prosecution described as a planned ritual sacrifice allegedly motivated by material gain.

Two juveniles, identified in court as A6 and A7, were central to the prosecution’s case. They had earlier pleaded guilty, were convicted and discharged, and subsequently testified against the adult accused.

A6 told the court that on the day of the murder, she encountered Ariokot near the school latrine and was instructed to bring one of the twins to meet Obotol, who was standing outside the school fence.

After bringing Apio, A6 said Ariokot took the child into the school latrine. She testified that she hid in the boys’ latrine after hearing Apio scream.

According to A6, Ariokot later ordered her not to tell anyone about what had happened and allegedly threatened to kill her like Apio if she disclosed the incident.

A6 further testified that Ariokot sent her to the school canteen to buy a cutter knife. After she returned with the knife, Ariokot allegedly used it to cut Apio’s throat and remove tissue from the child’s neck.

The witness told the court that Ariokot placed the removed tissue in a black polythene bag and handed it to Obotol.

A7, the daughter of Ariokot and Okedi, also testified that her mother and Obotol returned to the school later that evening and that Ariokot confessed to killing Apio.

The prosecution further presented two postmortem reports, DNA evidence and a green cutter knife that was recovered from the crime scene as exhibits.

However, Justice Wamala found the evidence insufficient to link the school cook, Valentine Opio; matron Osula Adong; and head teacher James Edoket to the murder. The three were subsequently acquitted.

The prosecution asked the court to impose life imprisonment on the three convicted persons, describing the killing as calculated and particularly gruesome.

State prosecutor Adero told the court that parents had entrusted their children to the school expecting them to be kept safe, but the accused had instead turned the institution into a scene of murder.

She further submitted that Okedi had purchased the cutter knife allegedly used in the killing and that the offence was committed for ritual purposes and material gain.

However, defence lawyers Francis Ajum and Joseph Odong asked the court for lenient sentences, arguing that the convicts had shown remorse, had no previous convictions and had families to support.

In his sentencing remarks, Justice Wamala described the case as a “rare case of the rare”, saying the circumstances warranted either the death penalty or life imprisonment because of the planned nature of the murder and the manner in which the child was killed.

The judge said postmortem evidence showed that Apio had suffered a deep cut to the neck, severing her trachea, oesophagus and major blood vessels. The injuries caused excessive bleeding, resulting in her death.

Justice Wamala emphasized the extreme brutality of the killing, particularly because the court had heard evidence implicating the child’s own mother.

According to the first postmortem report, the deceased had a deep wound on the neck, with the trachea, oesophagus and major blood vessels completely severed.

The report also noted a fracture of a bone connected to the neck muscles and the absence of several tissues and structures around the neck.

“The four muscles that assist in swallowing were missing, and parts of the bone connecting the neck to the ear were absent. The upper part of the trachea was missing as well. The vessels that transport blood to the heart had been separated,” Justice Wamala stated.

The court’s decision brings to an end a case that shocked the Soroti community and raised serious concerns about the safety of children entrusted to schools. Ariokot’s life sentence, together with the lengthy prison terms handed to her husband and Obotol, marks the court’s response to the killing of Joan Faith Apio, while the acquittal of the three other accused persons underscores the court’s finding that the evidence against them was insufficient.

-Observer

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