The Chadian government has sent a ministerial delegation to Amdjarass, in the northeast of the country, following violent clashes between students at a branch of the ‘National School of Sciences and Technologies of Information and Communication’. The unrest stemmed from disagreements of a religious nature.
The incident, which coincided with the end-of-year holiday break, sparked widespread debate both locally and on social media platforms. The crisis originated with a sermon delivered by Sheikh Yahya bin Ibrahim Khalil, leader of the ‘Ansar al-Sunna al-Muhammadiyya’ group, during the Christmas week. In his sermon, Sheikh Khalil criticized Muslim participation in non-Muslim celebrations and urged them to refrain from exchanging greetings.
Despite official condemnation from the government and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, the sermon circulated widely through messaging applications, eventually reaching the Amdjarass university campus. On December 30th, Christian students attempted to invite their Muslim counterparts to a Christmas meal, a tradition observed annually. However, this year, the invitation was met with rejection.
The disagreements quickly escalated into verbal altercations and then physical violence, resulting in six injuries and damage to student housing on January 2nd. In response, authorities dispatched the Minister of Health and the Minister of Communication to the city to de-escalate the situation.
The ministers promised students a series of improvements to living conditions on campus, including better room allocation, the provision of technical equipment, the construction of new housing, and the drilling of a well for potable water. The ministers affirmed that calm had been restored and that studies would resume. However, some injured students stated that tension remained high and that they feared returning to campus.
Observers suggest the incident reveals escalating societal tensions in Chad, particularly in the Amdjarass region, the birthplace of the late President Idriss Déby. They point to a growing sense of inequality among citizens, coupled with the spread of sectarian rhetoric, as exacerbating the fragility of the social fabric.
