Security beefed up at TUK

 By Innocent Okeyoh

The Technical University of Kenya has sought to take cautionary measures regarding security in the campus against the backdrop of massacre on Garissa University College by the Al-Shabab  that left 148 people dead.

The university dean of students Fr. Ndikaru wa Teresia on Thursday told the Crown Weekly exclusively that  the institution is fully in commitment to the welfare of the students and all that associate with it. Further, he added that security of the whole institutions depends on the commitment of the entire players including the students themselves

‘’Have we acted late? Maybe. This is something that should have been done as early as 1998 when we had the embassy attacked by terrorists. These are government facilities that should be protected at all times and the lives involved.’’

Further, the dean of students stated that the investment made in the lives of the students are so huge and non-reversible.

  ‘’ You cannot reload the lives of the more than 150 Intellectuals we lost in Garissa attacks.’’ Fr. Wa Teresia

He went on: ‘’ we have to prepare our grounds adequately because security is a holistic responsibility. Student corporation is very important if the war against terror is going to be a success.’’ He said the university has taken the issue a notch higher because it is a matter of life and death

Advising the engineering department, he said the chemical students have to be closely monitored by their lecturers regarding the amount of such chemicals at their disposal.

‘’Intellectuals these days collude with the terrorists as was evident in Garissa. One of the attackers was a law student at the University of Nairobi. Therefore we should not give the students chemicals in large quantities because they have the capability of creating explosives out of them. ‘’

Dispelling any thoughts of fear among the student organization, the dean further urged the students to avoid panic and concentrate on their studies as their lives are under watch. ‘’ The students should not view these as stringent measures aimed at frustrating their freedom   but an effort to give them an opportunity to concentrate on their studies. Corruption among students is  a cancer that will gnaw us if we keep on creating politics out of it.

Citing Makerere and Kyambogo universities in Uganda , Ndikaru intimated that Kenyan universities students  should  borrow a leaf and help in security policing by observing and reporting suspicious behaviors among themselves . He says that the students themselves take security on personal levels and report any individuals who exhibit unfamiliar characters.

‘’Students and all the university staff should avoid unnecessary groupings that can make them easy targets for terrorists. Besides we are planning to supply the students with IDs. Non-students or any other visitor will have temporary tags that will identify them. There will be no weekend meetings in the campus except for students that will be coming in for their studies .The dean further said that the measures will extend to the students hostels where the visiting hours will be from 8 am to 10 pm.

The security directorate of TUK

Speaking to this publication, the security director Mr. John Obara indicated that they are on the lookout for any impending danger. “Security is the core business of this office and therefore we will not sleep on the job which primarily is to protect the university and its publics. I can therefore confidently say that the lives here are in the safest and most alert minds with regard to security. Our students need not to worry and take their learning as usual as before they knew the Al-Shabab because we are here to protect them  “We are our own keepers.’’ Mr. Obara

Mr. Obara further stated that any panic among the students body that can create unnecessary uproar should be avoided as this will only act to aggravate the already volatile security temperatures in the whole country.

The students

Crown Weekly also sought the opinion and feelings of the students regarding their security in the campus following what happened in Garissa. While there appeared to be mixed opinion among them, they suggested that the measures that have been taken by the campus are the best in the interest of all as there is no any other body that can act in proxy to the same issues

“ I believe the university wants the best for the students so no one should create a fuss out of the security checks ,’’ said one of the students

Others, however, felt that more should be done. “ I need presence of more police officers in the school besides the security apparatus that already are existing, that way I will feel more secure,’’ said another.

At least 148 people, mostly, were killed in an assault by Al-Shabab militants on the university in the north-eastern Kenya. Heavily armed stormed Garissa University killing two security guards then firing indiscriminately on students

Reports from the government indicated that four of the gunmen were eventually surrounded in a dormitory and died when their suicide vests detonated

Who are Al-Shabab?

Al-Shabab is a jihadist terrorist group based in Somalia and which has pledged allegiance to the to the militant Islamic organization Al-Qaeda. The group has attacked Kenya direly since  Operation Linda Nchi, that began in 2011 that when troops from Kenya crossed the border to the conflict zone of southern Somalia

Prior to this tragic attack, the Al-Shabab have previously claimed responsibility for other attacks of several places in Nairobi including the infamous Westgate Mall attacks in Westlands. The composition of the group is multiethnic and is believed to be recruiting members from all across the world either voluntarily or forcefully.