GISAGARA - Three teenage female students from a local boarding secondary school in Gisagara district have been arrested and detained at Ndora Police Station, for possession and use of marijuana.

The girls, the eldest aged 14, are Senior One students at Groupe Scolaire Philippe Neri de Gisagara in Ndora Sector. They were arrested on Tuesday.

In an interview with The New Times at Ndora Police station, the students said that they consumed the drugs out of curiosity. "We were told a lot of things about marijuana, some said that when used it can improve the capacity to grasp what is taught in class, it was some kind of research on our part,” said one student.

The students, who confessed that it was their first time to consume the drug, said that they were directed to the house of the drug dealer, one Salim Sintukamazina, by a fellow student at the school.

"We went to his (Salim) place and bought one packet at Rwf100, we tried out one puff each but the smoke was unbearable, we stopped immediately,” said another.
In a bizarre turn of events, Salim Sintukamazina, a man Police had always suspected of dealing in the drug was shot dead after Police stormed his house following a tip off from an informer on Tuesday night.

"We were suspicious of his activities after finding empty packets of marijuana and used condoms near his home which is in the vicinity of the school. On Tuesday, we raided his house after getting a tip off that he was selling marijuana to students in his house, he was shot as he tried to escape,” said a Police source.

According to the source, the Policeman who was involved in the shooting incident has been arrested and will be charged in court.

Protogine Simparishema, the school head teacher said the detained students who hail from Kigali City, had a history of indiscipline at the school. He added that they will be punished in line with the provisions of the school regulations.

"The Police are handling the case but we as a school will institute our own disciplinary measures. I have no doubt that the affected students will be expelled,” he said.

The sale and consumption of marijuana in the district is one of the biggest challenges among the youth in the district, according to local authorities. The drug mainly comes from neighboring Burundi.

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