A student died during protests over unpaid financial aid at Senegal’s top university in Dakar, the government confirmed late Monday, as weeks of unrest over delayed stipends erupted into violent clashes with security forces.
Footage verified by Reuters showed flames and smoke engulfing the top floor of a four-story campus building, as students scrambled to escape through windows, with some falling to the ground.
The protests, ongoing since early December, have increasingly turned confrontational, with rock-throwing students facing off against police. “We pledge to conduct a thorough inquiry to determine any legal responsibility,” the government said in a statement.
Cheikh Atab Sagna, president of the Student Association of the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry, said the deceased student, identified as Ba, suffered fatal head trauma and severe blood loss. “He was not participating in the protests but was assaulted by police who entered student rooms before taking him to a nearby student welfare office,” Sagna said. A second student leader, Serigne Saliou Fall, confirmed Ba’s fatal injuries. Police in Dakar did not respond to a request for comment.
The government statement described Ba’s death as a result of injuries sustained during “serious events” on campus but provided no further details.
Rights groups, including the Senegalese League for Human Rights and Amnesty International Senegal, condemned what they described as the “disproportionate use of force by police” in a joint statement.
Cheikh Anta Diop University, one of the largest in West Africa with nearly 90,000 students as of 2024, announced Tuesday that it would close at noon “until further notice.”
Student Madawass Diagne, raising funds to help students travel home, expressed disillusionment with President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. “We are not in favor of the same injustices we were fighting against. It’s like he betrayed a whole country,” he said.
Boluwatife Enome
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