KIENI, Kenya, Oct 18 – Nine students are among ten people who have been arrested following an arson attack at a secondary school in Kieni where two Form One students were burnt to death on Sunday night, police said.
A neighbour said to have helped the students purchase petrol from a nearby fuel station was also detained as investigations into the arson attack at Endarasha Secondary School got underway.
“We have strong evidence to show that the suspects we have in our custody participated in burning the school and killing their colleagues. It is a murder case,” Central Provincial Police chief John M’bijiwe told Capital News on telephone.
He said two of the students in custody had confessed that they torched the dormitory christened “Wambugu” at about 11 pm.
Endarasha Secondary School is located about 40 kilometers from Nyeri town.
“Our detectives are still interrogating the suspects who are very cooperative with us and we hope to get more of the students who participated in this,” he added.
On Monday morning, the PPO and area PC Japhter Kiplimo Rugut visited the school and assured parents and students that those culpable would face justice.
“We were there this morning with the PC and Provincial Education officials and we have assessed the situation; it is a very sad state. There is no doubt there is a problem in that school but that cannot be an excuse for students to burn each other,” Mr M’bijiwe said.
The students had been protesting over high-handedness by the school’s management.
Such incidents are not new in Kenya. In 2001, fire swept through a dormitory of the Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos where 59 students were killed and more than 20 others wounded.
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