At least 50 students of Lubiri secondary school in Kampala have been arrested for destroying school property in a protest against being caned by one of the teachers, police say.
According to ASP Luke Owoyesigire, the Kampala metropolitan deputy police spokesperson, the incident happened on Sunday when the students started a strike that led to the destruction of property around school. Police would later be informed and moved in to restore normalcy.
A total of 56 students who are majorly from candidate classes were arrested and are currently detained at Old Kampala Police station as police investigates a case of malicious damage.
Owoyesigire says preliminary investigations indicate that the strike was caused by a teacher who flogged two female students, an act that angered colleagues.
“The police upon interviewing the students was able to establish that the alleged cause of the student demonstration was that, one of the teachers identified as Mulondo Benjamin (currently on the run) had abused two of their colleague students, one Kayaga Brenda and Nalubega shamira all in senior six by caning them. The students would later show their dissatisfaction by destroying school property,” says the police spokesperson.
Meanwhile, police has picked interest in the matter and the students who were allegedly assaulted are yet to be examined by the police surgeon and a case of assault is being investigated as well by Lungujja police since the students who were beaten are above 18 years of age.
Owoyesigire further asked students in the country to always desist from violent protests. He says, they ought to always invoke all the available peaceful means in expressing their dissatisfaction including reporting to police in case of violation of their rights.