Police firing tear gas at a group of protesters, including schoolchildren (in green uniforms). Photo by our Observer.

Schoolchilren pushing over the remnants of a wall that separated their school from what used to be their schoolyard. Photo by our Observer.

Police in the Kenyan capital Nairobi fired tear gas at a crowd of primary school students on Monday morning as they tried to take back their playground, which was claimed by a private developer last month. Several children had to be taken to a nearby clinic for treatment.School officials and local politicians claim the land was seized illegally in mid-December when a wall was built overnight between Langa’ta Road Primary School and the field that used to serve as its playground. Last week, a Nairobi senator filed a petition in court asking for the land to be returned to the public school. The land sits on prime real estate, adjacent to a high-end hotel and opposite an airport.According to Nairobi County Governor Evans Kidero, public schools are easy targets for land-grabbers because many of them have difficulty producing the deeds to their lands.