Monday, January 19, 2015
#OccupyPlayGround: Police Teargassed School Pupils, Injured Five (Pictures)
Pupils of Langa’ta Road
Primary School, where Monday morning teargassed by Police officers in Kenya, while making attempts to pull down part of a perimeter wall erected around a
disputed piece of land next to the school.
Police threw tear gas
canisters at the pupils and other demonstrators who had joined them to protest
the alleged grabbing of the school’s playground.
The pupils, who reported to
school early Monday, left their classrooms at around 10am and proceeded to what
used to be their playground before pulling down part of the wall.
Regular and Administration
Police officers had arrived at the school as early as 6am.
This, however, did not
prevent the pupils from attempting to reclaim what is believed to be land
belonging to the school.
Carrying twigs and
placards, the pupils tried to force their way into the disputed compound, but
police repulsed them using tear gas.
Five children were injured
in the ensuing commotion and were rushed to the nearby Lang’ata Prison
Dispensary.
The protest, dubbed
#OccupyPlayGround, came after the expiry of a notice given by Kibra MP Kenneth
Okoth, who threatened to mobilise youths from the constituency to pull down a
wall erected by a developer.
The school is in Kibra and
the disputed piece of land is of prime value, sitting adjacent to the high-end
Weston Hotel and opposite Wilson Airport.
The title to 1.6 acres of
the land is said to be in the name of Airport View Housing Limited.
Critics of the attack on pupils have said that government has succeed in creating a new generation of children that will never trust the police or the law of the land to protect them.
“Shame on the
government for assaulting children with tear gas to protect the corrupt #OccupyPlayGround” wrote National Chairman of Narc Kenya Party.
After hours of stand-off with the police, the pupil celebrated their success in pulling down the wall and claiming back their playground that was taken over when they went for holiday.
@blackboxupdate
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