University of Nairobi (UoN) students have narrated how General Service Unit (GSU) officers assaulted them during the demonstrations held against Embakasi East MP Babu Owino's arrest last week.
In a formal report compiled and signed by 50 students, they described how the anti-riot officers used vulgar language to address them while others touched their private parts.
The students stated that GSU officers broke into their lecture rooms and corridors and started beating them while taking their money and valuables.
A third-year female Real Estate student claimed that she narrowly escaped rape, but was kicked, injured and robbed of Sh1000.
"If it was not for a library security officer who happened to be coming into the washroom they may have pushed me into the toilet. I can easily identify the two officers," the student stated.
"Two ladies and I were almost raped in Room 520. They asked us vulgar questions such as umevaa suruari, na unaweza itoa (are you wearing a pant and can you take it off?) while touching our bodies,” another student narrated.
[caption caption="Tear gas thrown inside University of Nairobi during demonstrations"]
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A first-year male Architecture student claimed that he witnessed a number of officers getting intoxicated and smoking marijuana behind the ADD building.
“We were beaten as we tried to leave the building. I was personally forced to grope my classmate by an officer. When I refused to he beat me up. They stole our money and small electronics such as phones, power banks and hard-disks,” the student narrated.
Another female architecture student narrated how the officers broke into the studio and forced them to line up and raise their hands.
She stated that the officers hit them with batons and as they left, they found more officers waiting for them down the stairs where they were each slapped as they passed.
"One of the officers was pulling girls aside and squeezing their buttocks as they passed. I saw two girls who were in front of me being squeezed and then sadly, I was the third. At the building's door, they started hitting us, shouting "rukeni kama chura" (jump like frogs),” the student disclosed.
After jumping through the parking space they told us to get up and run. We got up, ran towards State House road but others were waiting for us. They told us to lie on our backs on the road. One of the officers held his rungu (baton) and lifted it up between our thighs," another student stated.
The videos of the attacks have been shared widely on social media but the Independent Policing Oversight Authority has dismissed some of them as fake.
On Tuesday, the Authority asked students who were injured during the attacks to record statements after the University was shut down indefinitely.
[caption caption="UoN students demonstrating for the release of Embakasi East MP Babu Owino"]
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