Nairobi News

Students interviewed on Sunday said there had been a state of fear at the Kikuyu Campus for the past two weeks over rumours that the college is among those targeted by Al-Shabaab terrorists.

“Some students have been working on defence strategies just in case of an attack,” said Mr Innocent Ochieng, a First Year student at the campus.

Mr Ochieng, who jumped from the fourth floor of the Kimberly hostel, sustained multiple arm injuries.

“I heard the explosion. Everyone was running so I decided to jump as nobody wanted to flee through the regular exits,” he said.

The explosions sounded like gunshots. Matters were made worse after students from nearby hostels raised the alarm on hearing the explosions.

FIRE! FIRE!

Another student, Mr Manuel Kelly, who was unhurt, said: “I just heard people shouting ‘fire! fire!’ I then thought we were under attack. I fled to the field where I felt safe. When it was confirmed it was not an Al-Shabaab attack we came back to help those who had been injured.”

A Third Year student, Mr Kennedy Ouma, got cuts on his right leg as he tried to escape through a window on the sixth floor.

“I was woken up by screams from the girls’ hostel. All I could think about was how to save my life because the explosions sounded like continuous gunshots,” he said.

“I was ready to nurse a broken leg but not die without trying to rescue myself.”

Mr Vincent Adika, a Second Year student, was also among those who ran out of the campus for fear that they had been attacked.

“For days now, we’ve been on a high alert after some strangers were seen in the school. Police have been patrolling the campus and some students were not even sleeping because of fear. So, when I heard the explosion, I ran and jumped over the fence with other students,” he said.

According to him, police response was rather slow.

TAKE CHANCES

Most of the students said after the attack on Garissa University College, they were not willing to take any chances with their lives.

“We don’t have faith in our security system. This incident took the police close to one hour to respond,” said Mr Ronnie Ayumba, the university’s student representative.

Speaking at the campus, Mr Isaac Mbeche, the university’s deputy vice-chancellor in charge of academic affairs, said the students’ reaction was justified.

“The recent terror attack on a university made students react the way they did, he said. “No one wants to fall victim of a terror attack.”

A University of Nairobi student leader attributed the death of their colleague to lack of emergency doors at the hostels.

Outgoing student union Vice-Chairperson Irene Kendi said the situation was dire and there was need to create emergency exit routes as soon as possible, to avoid a bigger disaster.

“Security in our campus is pathetic. We have not learnt from what happened in Garissa. I have raised the issue of emergency exits but nothing has been done,” she said.

She said many of the students were agitated and the situation could affect their performance in examinations due in the next few days. Ms Kendi urged the university administration to offer counselling to students.

Vice Chancellor Peter Mbithi said: “We have confirmed that it was not a terror attack. This was a reaction by scared students who thought they were fleeing from terrorists.”