Police are on the spot once again after one police officer carelessly lobbed a teargas canister into a school, sparking a fire and injuring a couple of kids in the process.
At the time of the ugly incident, police had been engaged in running battles with illegal brew (Chang’aa) sellers in Mathare who had lit bonfires on the road.
Lobbed teargas
In an attempt to bring order, a careless police officer is reported to have lobbed teargas into a nearby primary school where children were peacefully in their studies.
A fire was to later break out, forcing the kids to flee the school only to expose themselves to a cocktail of teargas and smoke emanating from burnt tires and police.
Scores were injured as they were trampled in a stampede that that followed even as police continued lobbing teargas indiscriminately at the school kids.
Barricades
The protestors erected barricades on Juja Road before burning down a private school and several houses in the area.
Reports indicate that a number of pupils were injured in the scuffle between the police and the protesters.
The operation, nicknamed ‘operation mwaga chang’aa’ started on Sunday and according to residents, the police have been raiding the area day and night.
Relentless pursuit
“For two days and nights, police illegally raid people’s places of work in Mathare, destroying people’s sources of income in an illegal crackdown on alcohol. People are beaten, arrested and shot at in a gross display of power abuse by police,” said a resident.
For the better part of the day, youth’s barricaded roads and lit bonfires as they engaged police who in return lobbed tear gas to disperse them.
Police said they will not stop until the illicit business is completely eliminated.
Question is, isn’t the duty of police to protect lives? Why did they expose young school-going kids to such violence?
