Two more schools have been closed down indefinitely in Naivasha as cases of unrest among students continue to rise in the country.
Police arrested 11 students from Naivasha Boys Secondary School for allegedly burning down the institution’s dormitory on Sunday evening.
Earlier, over 400 students from the nearby Naivasha High School had walked out of the institution in unclear circumstances.
In the first incident, a dormitory in the private school located in Maryland estate was burnt down at around 8pm when the students were in class for evening studies.
A witness, James Kinyanjui ,who lives near the school said loud screams from the school attracted their attention only to find the dormitory on fire.
He said lack of water and strong winds affected efforts to contain the fire or rescue any of the students’ personal effects before the county firefighters moved in.
“The fire was intense making it impossible to go near. All we could do was watch from a distance as the dormitory was razed down,” he said.
Naivasha subcounty deputy commissioner Mutua Kisilu confirmed the incident, saying no one was injured.
He said that initial investigations pointed to arson adding that eleven students had already been arrested in connection with the incident.
“On Sunday there was an arson attack at Naivasha Boys Secondary School where a dormitory and all the students’ belongings were burnt down and police have taken over the issue,” he said.
Kisilu said learning in the nearby Naivasha High School had also been affected after 80 per cent of the students walked out in unclear circumstances.
He said that Form 2 students were the first to leave the institution that was recently reopened after a similar incident which sparked tension.
“Majority of the students decided to walk out unprovoked and the security team had to intervene and send the other students home also as there were fears of another arson attack,” he said.
Kisilu warned that any students caught vandalising or burning school property would face the full wrath of the law despite their age.
“We have increased our surveillance and intelligence gathering in all the schools due to a surge in arson attacks,” he said.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
