On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, what began as a peaceful demonstration by students of the Monrovia Consolidated School System (MCSS) in Liberia escalated into chaos when riot police deployed tear gas, disrupting a petitioning ceremony at the Capitol Building. The students were protesting the prolonged absence of their teachers from classrooms due to a delayed salary increase promised by the government. Hundreds of students, holding placards and voicing their concerns, marched from schools on Bushrod Island to central Monrovia, where they were joined by more students from other MCSS institutions. Their destination was the Capitol Building, where they intended to present a petition to lawmakers, urging them to address their plight.
Initially, the students were guided by traffic officers towards the Capitol Building and the adjacent University of Liberia. They waited patiently for approximately ten minutes, expecting lawmakers to receive their petition, but no one appeared. Following police instructions, the students moved to the side of the street to allow for the free flow of traffic. After several hours, a group of lawmakers, primarily from the majority bloc of the House of Representatives, finally emerged to engage with the students. Among them were Representative Alex Williams, Chair of the Education Committee, Representative Sekou Kanneh, Chair on Executive, and Representative Price Tole, Chair on Claims and Petitions.
As Sekou V. Saryon, President of the MCSS Student Union, began to present the petition, the atmosphere abruptly changed. A loud blast followed by billowing smoke signaled the arrival of tear gas canisters fired by riot police. The peaceful petition ceremony dissolved into pandemonium as lawmakers scattered for safety, and the students scrambled to escape the noxious fumes. Many students sought refuge by jumping over the fence onto the University of Liberia campus, where they were joined by members of the campus-based Student Unification Party (SUP).
The situation further deteriorated as stones and other projectiles began to be thrown from the university campus towards the police, who responded with additional tear gas to quell the escalating unrest. Amid the confusion and chaos, allegations arose that some students had been arrested by the police, although official confirmation from the Liberian National Police was still pending. The incident underscored the rising tensions stemming from the teachers’ ongoing boycott, which was rooted in a delayed salary increase. While the government had initiated a pay raise in January, the MCSS payroll was reportedly burdened with irregularities, necessitating a cleanup before the increase could be implemented.
The government’s assertion that the MCSS payroll was bloated with improperly added names served as the justification for the delayed salary increase for teachers. This explanation, however, did little to assuage the frustration of the students, who were bearing the brunt of the teachers’ absence from classrooms. The students’ peaceful protest was an attempt to amplify their voices and bring attention to their disrupted education. The heavy-handed response from the riot police, however, transformed a peaceful demonstration into a chaotic scene, raising concerns about the use of force against protesting students.
The incident highlights the deep-seated issues within the Liberian education system, including payroll discrepancies and the resulting impact on teachers’ salaries. The students’ protest and the subsequent police response underscore the urgent need for a resolution to these issues to ensure the continuity of education for the affected students. Furthermore, the events of that Tuesday raise questions about the appropriateness of the police response and the need for a thorough investigation into the allegations of student arrests. The disruption of the petition ceremony and the use of tear gas against protesting students warrant serious attention from authorities and stakeholders in the education sector.
