Details are emerging that five students at the center of hijab (head scarf) saga at St Ursula Tungutu Girls in Kitui sneaked out of a school to attend Id Ul Fitr celebration in Kitui town.
The five, 2 of them Form Four candidates, allegedly jumped over the fence and joined other Muslim faithful in Kitui town, some two kilometers away.
Investigations by Uzalendo News have established that they were ferried to Kitui town by a boda boda, paid for by unknown people.
During a routine checkup, the girls were discovered missing and alarm send out to the Kitui Ministry of Education Director who directed the school’s management to launch a manhunt for the missing students.
The manhunt ended at around 4p.m, when the five stormed back to school accompanied by politicians and Abdulhalim Ahmed Salim, a respected member of the Muslim community in Kitui.
Among other leaders who stormed the institution include: Kitui Central Nominated MCA Waziri Bakari Baraka, Sheikh Abubakar, Sheikh Muhammad Khatwab, Abdul Halim Amed, Sheikh Sidiq Abubakar, Waziri Abdi Waziri and Safari Hasani.
The Kitui Central Nominated MCA Baraka informed the principal that he found the girls stranded and decided to return them to school.
According to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, the girls have to carry their own cross for breaking school rules.
“We are dealing with an issue of gross indiscipline. The girls sneaked out of school. They were brought back by third parties. Not parents. They have to carry their cross,” a source at the school said.
According to our investigations, the girls’ parents were duly called to the school and the matter explained to them. They profusely pleaded that the rogue girls be allowed to sit for third term exams awaiting the outcome of the investigations.
“We are dealing with minors. They are here to learn in a conducive environment. Those who go against the school rules will be punished accordingly,” a Senior teacher said on condition of anonymity.
This new twist conflicts earlier report that had stated that the Muslim students were reportedly being denied the right to wear the hijab while in school.
According to reports from parents who stormed the school, the Muslim girls at the institution had allegedly been punished for wearing hijabs.
They accused teachers of removing the headscarves and disciplining the students, insisting that the attire is not part of the official school uniform.
However, it has been established that Hijabs are freely worn at the St Ursula Tungutu Girls in Kitui.
