University closed after days of rioting

The government of Togo has closed the country's main university for an indefinite period following several days of protest by students which led to violent clashes with the security forces. The disturbances were the worst seen in Togo for several years. Charles Kondi-Agba, the Minister for Higher Education, announced on Sunday that the University of Lome had been closed until further notice "in order to facilitate a genuine and constructive dialogue with the students." The students took to the streets last Wednesday to demand an improvement in their living conditions and the payment of government grants that were up to three years in arrears. Things came to a head on Friday when police and units of the elite presidential guard were sent onto the university campus to disperse the demonstrators. Kondi-Agba attempted to personally intervene, but his car was attacked and destroyed by the angry students. The minister said later in a statement that the students were being manipulated by opponents of President Gnassingbe Eyadema, Africa's longest serving head of state who has ruled this poor West African country for the past 37 years. He accused them of throwing molotov cocktails at the police and attempting to disrupt recently opened negotiations with the European Union aimed at restoring EU aid to Togo for the first time since 1993. These charges were denied by Alphonse Tsogbe, a student leader. He claimed that between 15 and 20 students were injured when police beat them with sticks and opened fire on them with tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. “They fired live bullets on us,” Tosgbe told IRIN: “I know one student who had his arm shattered.” “We have not been manipulated by any political party because our complaints are a-political," the student leader added. A police spokesman said 35 people had been arrested during the disturbances, of whom 11 were not students. Several police vehicles were attacked and some were burned by the demonstrators. Two weeks ago, student leader Jean-Paul Omoulou presented Kondi-Agba with a list of grievances on behalf of the 15,000 students at Lome University and Kara University in the north of the country. These included a demand for the payment of bursary arrears amounting to 80,000 CFA - (US$ 150) per student.