School in Isiolo closed after students riot, destroy property

A chief inspects the staffroom at St Paul's Kiwanjani Mixed Secondary School in Isiolo after rioting students destroyed and looted textbooks, electronics and examination papers on May 31, 2016. PHOTO | VIVIAN JEBET | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The students shattered classroom window panes and looted electronics, computers, books and teachers’ laptops before police intervened.
  • They also stole examination papers for the end-of-month assessment that they were to sit later in the day.
  • Police officers were also deployed to provide security and prevent further destruction.
  • No student was arrested, since they disappeared after the riot.

Students of St Paul’s Kiwanjani Mixed Secondary School in Isiolo went on strike Tuesday morning, destroying and stealing property.

The students shattered classroom window panes and looted electronics, computers, books and teachers’ laptops before police intervened.

They also stole examination papers for the end-of-month assessment that they were to sit later in the day.

According school Principal George M’Mbijiwe, the students rioted following the suspension of seven of their peers who were found smoking bhang in school on Monday.

He said five students who had been suspended colluded with former students and incited others who arrived in the school in the morning armed with knives.

No one was injured in the ensuing rampage.

SMOKING BHANG

“We had told those found smoking bhang to be accompanied by their parents to the school, but they came back and started destroying property with stones and knives,” said the headteacher.

Learning was paralysed as more than 400 students were sent home while the board of management (BoM) and education officials investigate the matter.

The BoM ordered the school closed for a week.

Police officers were also deployed to provide security and prevent further destruction.

No student was arrested, since they disappeared after the riot.