Witness Kenyan Police Use Tear Gas on Protesting Schoolchildren
Witness Kenyan Police Use Tear Gas on Protesting Schoolchildren
1 minute read
Students from Langata Primary School hold placards as they protest against a perimeter wall illegally erected by a private developer around their school playground in Kenya's capital Nairobi, Jan. 19, 2015.Thomas Mukoya—Reuters
Students and teachers returned to a Nairobi-area school from a break to find that a barrier had been erected around their play area by a private developer in an apparent sale of the land.
The Nairobi city council has not commented on the legality of the sale of the land it says is public, the BBC reports, though some protesters allege it was an unlawful land grab. Around 100 students, mostly between the ages of 8-13, along with teachers and activists, knocked over the wall and were met by about 40 armed police officers, some of whom fired tear gas canisters at the demonstrators, the Telegraph reports. At least five children received medical attention.
Students from Langata Primary School hold placards as they protest against a perimeter wall illegally erected by a private developer around their school playground in Kenya's capital Nairobi, Jan. 19, 2015. Thomas Mukoya—ReutersKenyan school pupils and activists challenge riot police during a protest against the removal of their school's playground, at the Langata Road Primary School, in Nairobi, Jan. 19, 2015. Brian Inganga—APA protester clashes with a police officer during a protest against alleged land grabbing at Langata Road Primary School in Nairobi, Jan. 19, 2015. Dai Kurokawa—EPAA police officer reacts as his colleague tries to calm him down after he was hit by a rock thrown by a protester during a protest against alleged land grabbing at Langata Road Primary School in Nairobi, Jan. 19, 2015.Dai Kurokawa—EPASchool children push the fence to enter the school playground during a protest against alleged land grabbing at Langata Road Primary School in Nairobi, Jan. 19, 2015. Dai Kurokawa—EPAStudents from Langata Primary School run past riot police as they protest against a perimeter wall illegally erected by a private developer around their school playground in Nairobi, Jan. 19, 2015.Thomas Mukoya—ReutersSchool children from the Langata Road Primary School scramble up a bridge on Jan. 19, 2015 in Nairobi to escape tear gas.Tony Karumba—AFP/Getty ImagesSchool children face off against a police dog handler during a protest against alleged land grabbing at Langata Road Primary School in Nairobi, Jan. 19 2015. Dai Kurokawa—EPA
