Update: 15 Butere Girls students reported missing following standoff at Nakuru drama festival found
Malala, who wrote the play, said he was arrested around midnight on Wednesday and taken to Eldama Ravine Police Station.
All 15 students from Butere Girls High School, who were previously reported missing following a standoff over the controversial Echoes of War school play, have now been found.
Former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala, who had raised alarm over their whereabouts, has confirmed their safe return.
More To Read
- Political turncoats: Why Kenyan politicians only reveal the "truth" when out of power
- Malala loses court battle to reclaim UDA Secretary-General position
- Ruto warns politicians: Keep learners out of politics, focus on nurturing talent
- Ogamba explains Butere Girls drama festival dispute, warns principals against involving non-teachers
- Koome condemns violations of court orders in Butere Girls drama festival farce
- Keep politics out of schools, Murkomen tells off Malala over Echoes of War play
Addressing journalists outside Eldama Ravine Police Station on Thursday morning, Malala had claimed the girls had gone missing following police confrontations at the National Drama Festival venue in Nakuru.
“Our cast comprises 38 girls. We have received information that 15 girls are missing,” he said.
The former senator called on the police to produce the missing students. “We want to know where our girls are. Police should produce the girls,” he said shortly after being released from police custody.
Malala, who wrote the play, said he was arrested around midnight on Wednesday and taken to Eldama Ravine Police Station.
He did not give further details on the circumstances of the students’ disappearance but demanded urgent action from authorities.
He also condemned the actions of police officers who reportedly used tear gas on students during the Wednesday night incident at Kirobon Girls High School.
“The officers should stop using excessive force on our students. They are patriotic and have done no wrong,” Malala said.
The tension began at the drama festival venue, where security was reportedly tightened.
On Thursday morning, journalists and the public were blocked from entering Kirobon Girls, where the event was still ongoing.
Top Stories Today
- Gachagua unveils Democracy for Citizens Party, names Cleophas Malala as interim deputy leader
- Chirchir under fire as MPs decry infrastructure budget bias against Northern Region
- Kuscco executives took Sh192 million insider loans before dismissal
- Murkomen: Government has no official data on missing persons
- How climate change fuels rise in gender-based violence in Garissa
- Investment firm sues Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai, accuses him of invading Runda property
- TSC seeks Sh70 billion to hire 98,000 teachers nationwide
- Afreximbank launches Sh129bn funding kitty to empower African creatives
- Nearly half of women-led aid groups at risk of closure amid global funding cuts — UN
- Somalia launches crackdown on human trafficking networks
- Linturi quits UDA, says he won’t be part of a party that embraces murder
- State urges universities to embed AI in all training programmes
- Murkomen: Why police are solving MP Were’s murder faster, unlike other cases
- No country is being targeted, UK says, as visa rules tighten
- New AUC Chair faces old challenges as he seeks to rebuild trust with regional blocs
- Mombasa school empowers mums with financial skills on Mother's Day
- Nairobi's Freemasons' Hall clamped over Sh19 million land rate debt
- Engineers raise alarm over graft in Nairobi structural plan approvals
- Translate Hansard into local languages, forum tells Parliament, assemblies
- Ethiopia's electoral board deregisters Tigray People's Liberation Front
