Nairobi, Kenya: Seventeen students were arrested during a dramatic protest by Nairobi Aviation College students along Nairobi Streets against a story by NTV claiming there is sale of certificates at the institution.
Police used tear gas canisters to disperse the students at various points in the city as the protest turned violent.
The students hurled stones at the Nation Centre building along Kimathi Street after failing to gain access to the media house smashing the doors and windows.
It was in the confusion that the students were arrested after running battles with police. Police said they were interrogating them.
The students had initially camped outside Nation Centre and pelted stones there smashing few glasses before they left saying they were victims of witch hunt.
They said the expose dubbed Certificates Of Doom by NTV and Daily Nation newspaper was biased.
‘’They talked to fake people and did not bother to talk to us or even the management. Their aim was to destroy our image,’’ shouted one student.
Chanting “Haki Yetu” (our rights), the students climbed on top of vehicles parked outside the building as they demanded to be addressed.
The guards on duty hurriedly closed the entrances before the students started to hurl stones smashing doors and windows.
Nearby shops were hurriedly closed for almost an hour as the riots went on.
Police watched from a distance as the students shouted while carrying twigs. Some of the students turned violent and attacked photojournalists who tried to take their pictures as they left Kimathi Street while shouting and screaming.
They later regrouped and marched back to Nation Centre threatening further attacks on NTV and Nation staff if the story was not corrected but police intervened and dispersed them.
The students were protesting a story aired on NTV and published by Nation exposing alleged rot in higher learning institutions that engage in academic malpractices.
A similar protest happened in Nakuru Town but it was not violent, officials and witnesses said.
The college has thousands of students at various campuses in the country.
The institution management later issued a statement denying the claims.
The institution spokesman Eric Okulu said they had tried to give their side of the story to the media house but the were unable.
“The matter was even in court where an order had been issued barring the media houses from publishing the stories. They did not hear our side,” said Okulu.
