Meru University students on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, brought traffic to a standstill along the Meru–Maua highway as they staged demonstrations over rising insecurity in areas surrounding the institution.

The students lit bonfires and blocked sections of the busy road, forcing motorists to seek alternative routes. They carried placards and chanted slogans demanding urgent intervention from both the county and national governments.

Their main grievances centred on the lack of street lights around residential areas where many of them live. According to the students, poorly lit roads have created an environment where criminal gangs thrive. They cited frequent cases of muggings, assaults, and stabbings targeting students walking to and from their hostels at night.

Police officers were deployed to quell the unrest after the protest turned tense. Officers lobbed teargas canisters to disperse the crowd when students began pelting stones at them. Despite the confrontation, the students insisted they would not stop their demonstrations until firm measures were taken to guarantee their safety.

The protest was organised by the Student Association of Meru University (SAMU). In a notice issued on Monday, the association had already informed students of the planned action. The letter, signed by Secretary General Cosmas Emerkwa and President Teddy Samuel, accused authorities of failing to address their concerns.

“The SAMU has been deeply concerned about the escalating insecurity around our university environs, largely caused by the lack of streetlights and insufficient security measures. This situation has put many of our students at risk, especially during evening movements,” read the statement.

Students demand urgent action

The leaders explained that previous attempts to engage both the university administration and local security teams had not produced tangible results. They said the demonstration was therefore a last resort, aimed at drawing attention to the plight of students.

This is not the first time Meru University students have taken to the streets over security fears. On January 28, 2025, they staged protests following the killing of a Technical University of Mombasa student who had travelled to Meru to visit his girlfriend. The student was stabbed to death in an incident that sparked anger and highlighted the danger facing young people in the town.

Students now claim that insecurity remains widespread in the Mascan area, which hosts a large number of their residences. They claim that gangs routinely ambush them, especially in the evenings, and rob them of phones, laptops, and money.