SCHOOL FIRE: 9 Students Detained For Burning Down Multi-Million School Property
Nine students from Miathene Boys High School in Meru County were detained on Tuesday after a fire broke out at the school on the evening of July 16, 2024, destroying a dormitory.
A Meru court ordered the nine to be held for ten days so that police officers could investigate the suspected arson.
By the time this article was published, the students were being held at the Tigania police station in Ngundune, Meru County.
“Millions of shillings have been lost in the school arsons and I want to warn learners that culprits will be brought to book,” confirmed the Eastern Region Commissioner Paul Rotich.
Court orders nine students from Miathene Boys High School in Meru County who are prime suspects in the fire that razed a dormitory on July 16 to be detained for ten days awaiting for conclusion of pending investigations.
— MIKE (@Mike_Kutola) September 11, 2024
The arson that destroyed an entire dormitory is thought to have been fueled by a rival school’s strike that occurred just two days before.
This significant arrest follows a recent surge in school fires across the country.
Notably, Njia Boys’ High School in the same county burned down three days ago. Six students are already being investigated for this.
On September 10, Meru County Commissioner Jacob Ouma stated that the six were captured on CCTV committing the crime.
“We went there this morning and found that one of their dorms with a capacity of 160 students was burned down and preliminary investigations have revealed that this is an arson case involving rebellious students,” stated Ouma.
Last week, a fire broke out at Hillside Endarasha School in Nyeri County, killing 21 pupils. Since then, fires have been reported at several other schools across the nation.
For example, on the morning of September 11, Ng’ombeni Girls’ and Oma John Mbadi Secondary became the country’s most recent schools to experience a fire in the same week.
President William Ruto has already ordered an investigation into the widespread school fires, which many believe are related to the upcoming school exams.
SCHOOL FIRE: 9 Students Detained For Burning Down Multi-Million School Property
