Senegalese government says death of student in protests is a ‘tragedy’

The Senegalese government has described the death late on Monday of a medical student during protests as a “tragedy”.

Weeks of unrest at Dakar’s top university over unpaid financial aid escalated into clashes with security forces.

“I offer my sincere condolences to the family, relatives, and friends of Abdoulaye Ba, the student who sadly passed away yesterday,” said Minister of the Interior, Mouhamadou Bamba Cissé.

The government said the circumstances of the second-year dental surgery student at Cheikh Anta Diop University remained under investigation.

Videos posted on social media showed scenes of chaos, with security forces firing tear gas into campus buildings while students retaliated by throwing stones.

“There were acts of violence on both sides, and acts that we saw emanating from the defence and security forces. As an official, these are acts that I cannot condone,” he said.

Cissé said some students had begun attacking a food hall on Monday morning and accused them of possessing tear gas grenades and Molotov cocktails.

Rights groups have condemned what they described as the disproportionate use of force by police. A student group said the authorities have detained 105 scholars at the central police station in Dakar.

Senegalese authorities closed UCAD’s residences and dining halls “until further notice”, leaving a number of students from other cities in the lurch.

Classes, meanwhile, remain in session.

The protests reflect mounting pressure from Senegal’s worsening public finances with economic difficulties weighing particularly heavy on young people.

Approximately 75 per cent of the population is under the age of 35.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s election in 2024 fanned hopes of change among the country’s many disadvantaged young people.

He and his prime minister Ousmane Sonko promised a break with the past that was widely popular with the younger generation.