Property destroyed as Garissa High students go on strike

Students at Garissa High School have gone on the rampage, damaging property worth millions of shillings, over what they describe as the high handedness of their administration.

Sources at the school told Nation.Africa that the protests started immediately after Monday evening prayers and that some Form Three and Four students were behind the incident.

"We came from the mosque around 7pm to find that all the lights in the school compound had been switched off. The students started stoning the solar powered lights before all hell broke loose," said a student.

According to the student, the school management had confiscated mobile phones and civilian clothes from most of the students on Monday morning after they returned to school on Sunday.

The Nation established that most students sneak out of the school on Friday and return on Sunday evening or early Monday morning, despite the fact that the institution is a boarding school.

"The civilian clothes are used to sneak out of school and stay in town with relatives and friends before returning. Most of the students in Form Three and Four are known to sneak out," said a student.

He revealed that all the clothes confiscated by the teachers were set on fire, leading to the protests.

The school bus and a private car belonging to a teacher were badly damaged by the protesting students.

The police were called in to calm the situation.

The school canteen was broken into and looted by the protesting students.

Several students were injured and accused the police of using heavy-handed tactics to quell the situation.

"I was hit by a teargas canister by the police as I ran for safety outside the school," said a senior student.

He said that after they managed to escape the school at night, the police followed them to a neighbouring compound and beat them up.

"The police were at every corner, forcing us to run into people's houses. I was hit by a tear gas canister at someone's house and they took me to hospital," he said.

The student was admitted to a private health facility in Garissa town with an injured cheek.

Another student was hit in the stomach by the tear gas canister but was treated and discharged.

The school management could not be reached for comment as the principal was said to be in a meeting with the board.

Mr Mohamud Dubat, the principal, has been at the school for a year.

"We want to know why our children protested last night and that will only come from the principal himself," said Mr Hassan Adan, a parent at the school.

The institution, a national school, has more than 2,000 students.