Garissa attack survivors start varsity life afresh, but bad memories linger

I woke up and headed for the shower as she (Faith Kilonzo) left for the devotion. That was the last time I saw her alive - Margaret Murugi

ELDORET: Fortune conspired to give a 20-year-old student of Garissa University a gift – one more chance to live.

Even as he queues at the registration centre at Moi University’s main campus student centre in Eldoret, the words ‘God is good’ keep swirling across his mind. And the pensive reflection on his face tells it all.

But Fredrick Gitonga, one of the survivors of the Garissa massacre last month, lacks the right adjectives to describe the tragedy that befell 142 students.

Gitonga is grateful that a deep sleep saved him from the jaws of death.

Despite being healthy and ready to turn a new leaf, memories of his departed colleagues who were felled by Al-Shabaab militants still stalk him.

The attackers who struck at dawn while they were asleep at Garissa University, a constituent college of Moi University, left him with bad memories that will always be embedded in his mind.

Gitonga vividly remembers April 2 and the incidents that took place as if it were yesterday when the attackers pounced on the institution and embarked on a shooting spree, killing and maiming anyone on sight.

The student, who was the Christian Union (CU) chairperson at Garissa, says his lucky escape resulted from his failure to wake up and attend the morning devotion.

“I have never understood why I overslept that fateful day and missed the morning devotion, which I always conducted in the classroom where my colleagues lost their lives,” he says.

He recalled that instead of waking up at 5am, it is the gun shots that shook him awake at 6am only to realise later that they had been attacked.

“My colleagues who were already praying were the first ones to be attacked. Had I woken up, I would have been dead too,” he explains in an emotional tone.

Gitonga, who is the second last born child in a family of nine, said he hid under his bed for over five hours.

MORNING PRAYERS

“I kept praying silently for God to protect me. It was a harrowing ordeal seeing the shoes of the attackers who came into my room searching for those who were hiding. Despite their calls to those who were under the bed, I did not come out,” he explained.

The CU chairperson noted that out of his four roommates, only two survived the ordeal. He added that he was later rescued from his room by the Kenya Defence Forces.

“My bed-mate James Muthengi, who also happens to be our prayer co-ordinator in the CU also survived.

Ironically, he also never woke up to go for the prayers. He was shot in the leg and is currently receiving treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital,” he added.

Gitonga says the memories of the departed ‘flock’ that was killed while praying will always linger in his mind adding that he regards them as heroes.

“Out of the 29 students at the gathering, seven survived while the rest succumbed to the gun shot injuries inflicted by Al-Shabaab,” he said.

Despite the memories, he insists that he is ready to forge ahead and complete his studies in the new environment.

Margaret Murugi, a first year student pursuing Education, is also glad to have survived the harrowing experience at the hands of the attackers.

She says the attackers snuffed the life out of her bed-mate but she has not lost hope in advancing her studies.

LAST TIME SEEN ALIVE

Murugi 20 recalls that before the attack, she woke up with her roommate at 4am to fetch water outside their hostel before going back to sleep.

“We were to fetch water so that we could use it to bathe in the morning before joining our colleagues at the devotion. However, when our alarm rang at 5.30 am, my deceased friend Faith Kilonzo, chose to go without showering,” she says.

She added: “I woke up and headed for the shower as she left for the devotion. That was the last time I saw her alive,” recallsMurugi.

The first born in a family of four explained that she escaped into one of the lecturer’s quarters before the attackers arrived at their room.

With classes set to begin next Tuesday, Moi University officials observed that they expect to admit 640 students from Garissa University as another 10 are currently hospitalised, still nursing injuries they sustained during the attack.

Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Prof Nathan Ogechi said the students still in treatment will be allowed to join the institution when they recover fully.