Four students arrested over Magereza Academy fire

The night incident in the school that is located next to Naivasha GK Prison left some students with minor injuries before the fire was contained by the county fire engine. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

Four students from Magereza Academy in Naivasha have been arrested following a fire incident in the institution that left goods worth thousands of shillings in ashes.

The four were arrested hours after the incident that razed a section of the school dormitory forcing the school board to close the institution indefinitely pending investigations and repair. 

The 8pm incident in the school that is located next to Naivasha GK Prison left some students with minor injuries before the fire was contained by the county fire engine.

According to chairman, Parents Association Lawrence Mogaka, the four students were arrested after CCTV footage implicated them at the scene of the accident during the 8 pm fire.

Mogaka said the boys would assist in furnishing the DCI officers who camped at the scene early morning with fine details of what transpired. 

He said fortunately, all the students were at the time attending to evening classes but few had sustained minor injuries when trying to rescue their belongings. 

Mogaka said the board decided to close the school with over 800 pupils indefinitely due to lack of enough dormitory units and to allow for uninterrupted investigations into the incident. 

On his part Hanny Munyiri, a guardian said that the administration should not take advantage of the situation to demand for more funding from the already burdened parents. 

Munyiri said the school should instead seek for alternative funding to rebuild the dormitory in earnest and allow the pupils to return to school. 

He questioned why the administration sent the entire over 800 students home, noting that the culprits should shoulder the full responsibility of the inferno. 

Another parent, Wilson Njenga, said the school had failed to communicate to them the learners' situation during the evening accident which created panic among guardians. 

He alleged that the school had experienced another dormitory fire but had failed to communicate to parents prompting questions on the safety of learners. 

Njenga emphasized that parents should not be forced to pay for more fees to rebuild the facility but rather the CCTV cameras should help identify the culprits. 

Naivasha DCIO Isaac Kiama confirmed the arrests saying that the students would be interrogated over the suspected arson attack as part of their investigations.

“Four students who are of interest in the case have been picked and will be questioned over the fire incident that destroyed property worth thousands,” he said.