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Five students from St. Paul Boys Kiambugi in Kiharu Murang’a will spend five days in police custody after they were arrested for allegedly torching a school dormitory Wednesday morning.

The five were arraigned in Murang’a law courts on Thursday morning where the prosecution requested two weeks to conduct the investigation but the court reduced it to five days.

The five appeared before senior principal magistrate Atiang’ Mitulla but they did not take plea for the charges.

He ordered that they be detained at Murang’a police station for five days and will appear again on Tuesday next week.

11 students had been arrested following incident where a 66-capacity dormitory was burned to ashes but only five were charged.

According to the investigating officers, the remaining six have been temporarily released as more evidence is being sought.

“Those who have been arraigned in court are the ones we got compelling evidence against them from the footage we obtained from the CCTV cameras,” said the County Commissioner Mohammed Bare.

Bare said the school has been closed down for unspecified period of time and the students will be called back after things are put to order.

He said two more schools, Igikiro boys and Gakarati secondary have been closed down due to students’ unrest.

He said the students are going on rampage after being denied opportunity to watch football as they were used to while at home.

“I am sending a warning to the students that it is a criminal offense to burn down any part of school and they shall be held liable for their actions,” said Bare.

“Parents should also caution their children to avoid engaging in crime while in school because they will always leave traces behind leading to their arrest,” he added.

He also said police are pursuing a student who ran away from a school in Kangema after being found in possession of 13 rolls of bhang.

Additional reporting by Njange Maina