Parents of several students at Trans Nzoia Secondary School in Trans Nzoia County stormed a police station on Friday morning, demanding the release of several Form Four candidates arrested the previous evening on allegations of planning a riot at the school.
According to the parents, the students, all minors, were arrested on Thursday evening, November 20, after police received information that the candidates were allegedly planning and mobilising for a riot at the school premises.
Parents reported that the arrested students spent the night in police cells and that guardians were not informed of the arrests despite the students being underage.
One parent speaking on behalf of the group expressed her fear over something bad happening to her son in what she described as heightened insecurity in the country.
The parents lamented that their children were not asked to give statements on the matter. They also stated that the children were neither charged nor booked by the officers.
They questioned the due process that had been followed in the arrest since they, as the children's guardians, were not informed of the arrests, despite the children being minors, nor were they booked or charged with any crime.
One of the fathers also expressed his worry because his asthmatic son had left home without a sweater the day before and had spent the night in a cell. He urged the police to follow due process to either charge or release the students.
The parents stressed that the continued detention, coupled with the mental distress caused by the overnight stay in a police cell, would severely and negatively affect the candidates' performance in the remaining KCSE papers.
The arrests occurred at a crucial time, when the national exams, which began on October 21st,2025, were scheduled to conclude on November 21, 2025. This timing intensified the parents' protests amid fears that some of the candidates would not be able to sit their final papers.
The school's Board of Management chairman accompanied the parents to the police station, where he claimed that efforts to come to an understanding with the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) were unsuccessful, as the OCS dismissed their concerns regarding the students.
He acknowledged that the situation had escalated and apologized to the parents for the matter, promising to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
