The government blamed "anti-peace" forces for inciting violence, while opposition groups accused the police of brutality.
According to a statement on the state news agency, mass demonstrations caused "loss of lives and property" in several university towns in Oromia, Ethiopia's largest region.
The riots, which began Wednesday after "students confused by deliberately misleading rumours and gossips created havoc", had been brought under control, it added.
Five people were killed in Ambo, about 125 kilometres (80) south of Addis Ababa, and another three people killed near Bidire, about 415 kilometres (260 miles) from the capital, the statement read, without giving details on how they died.
A hand grenade killed one person and injured 70 in Alem Maya, 366 kilometres (230 miles) east of Addis Ababa.
According to local media reports, the students were protesting government proposals to extend its administrative control to several towns in Oromia, sparking fears of land grabs.
"The students... tried to show their grievances by submitting their questions to the local government but the answer they got was beatings, killing, harassment and coercion," Bekele Nega, secretary of the Oromia Federal Congress party, told AFP.
"These people not only will lose their land, they are also going to lose their culture, their language, their identity, their representation in parliament."
But the government accused protest leaders of trying to destabilise the country.
"The forces behind the chaos... have a past violent history," the government statement read, claiming the protests had been encouraged by "media inside and outside the country" for "their evil purpose", without giving further details.
With nearly 27 million people, Oromia is the most populated of the country's federal states and has its own language, Oromo, distinct from Ethiopia's official Amharic language.
RESULT
At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots: govt. 1 hour ago. But the government accused protest leaders of trying to destabilise the country.
At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots: govt - Yahoo ...
Read 'At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots: govt' on Yahoo News South Africa. At least nine people have been killed and 70 injured at student protests in
At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots: govt - Horseed
At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots: govt. May 2, 2014 Leave a Comment. But the government accused protest leaders of trying to destabilise the country.
At least nine killed in Ethiopia student riots
At least nine killed in Ethiopia student riots. At least nine people have been killed and 70 injured at student protests in southern Ethiopia
At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots: govt
70 injured at student protests in southern Ethiopia At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots government accused protest leaders of
At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots
ADDIS ABABA: At least nine people have been killed and 70 injured at student protests in southern Ethiopia this week, including in a grenade attack, the government
At least nine killed in Ethiopia student riots - Africa ...
At least nine people have been killed and 70 injured at student protests in southern Ethiopia this week, including in a grenade attack, the government said in a
Nine Killed And 70 Injured In Ethiopia's Week-Long Student ...
Student protests in southern Ethiopia has seen the deaths of at least nine people this week, with 70 others injured, the government said in a statement
Ethiopian student riots claim nine lives | eNCA
Stock image: At least nine people have been killed and 70 injured at student protests in southern Ethiopia this week, including in a grenade attack, the government
Ethiopia: Multiple Arrests In Major Crackdown On ...
The Ethiopian government is tightening its suffocating grip on freedom of expression in a major crackdown which At least 9 killed in Ethiopia student riots:
