Kangemi: 51 pupils treated, discharged after tear gas attack during Azimio demos

A majority of learners at the New Kihumbuini Primary School in Kangemi area of Nairobi stayed away from school on Thursday following Wednesday's teargassing of the institution by police officers.

Eagles Hospital in Kangemi has reported attending to 51 pupils: 47 girls and four boys.

Most of those injured are Grade 7 pupils in the Junior Secondary wing of the institution.

Of the injured, 39 pupils stayed away from school, one of them requiring to be taken back to hospital for further medical attention.

The school head teacher Eunice Onyango said: “The tear gas that was thrown to the school affected the learning of the children and the class where the children were seated. It is next to the road and still you can always pass there and you cannot hear noise, we rarely see our children peeping outside and I want to say categorically that the children who were affected were JSS learners.”

The school with a population of 2,333 pupils on Thursday registered a 50 per cent decline in attendance with only 12 of those who were affected by the tear gas reporting.

Dr. Aron Shikuku, the Director of Eagles Nursing Home in Kangemi, said all 51 pupils who were brought to the facility were discharged. One was however taken back on Thursday after developing some complications while at home.

“A stray tear gas landed in a school, therefore creating havoc, causing confusion, causing shock and also there are those who had breathing problems and therefore as a matter of emergency my ambulance team had to take care, we brought them for first aid, they were 47 girls and 4 boys,” said Dr. Shikuku.

The National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) visited the school and condemned the incident saying the rights of children to education must be protected by all means.

The commission called for investigation by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and action against the officers who were involved.

NGEC Chairperson Dr. Joyce Mutinda said: “We cannot transact any business when our children are being tear gassed, when our children are choking, when our children cannot access education, not because they [don’t] want but because somebody has done so. I have this morning spoken to IPOA to ensure those officers who may have done this are dealt with.”

Hesbon Nyagaka, the Regional education director, stated: “We really want to wish and ask our police...because our schools are well labelled, they are well protected...to avoid throwing canisters to the school because majority of them have conditions and the smoke from the canister greatly affects them.”

The Ministry of Education has been urged to collaborate with security agencies to ensure safety in schools during demonstrations.