A second-year dental surgery student at Cheikh Anta Diop University, identified as Abdoulaye Ba, has died during protests over unpaid financial aid at Senegal’s top university in Dakar, the government said late on Monday, as weeks of unrest over delayed stipends escalated into clashes with security forces.
Footage showed flames and smoke engulfing the top floor of a four-story campus building, as students scrambled to escape out of windows, with some falling to the ground.
The government said the circumstances of the death of Abdoulaye Ba, remain under investigation.
The protests reflect mounting pressure from Senegal’s worsening public finances. The administration that took office in April 2024 is grappling with a $13 billion budget hole, one of Africa’s most severe hidden debt crises, and growing public dissatisfaction as bills go unpaid.
“We pledge to conduct a thorough inquiry to determine any legal responsibility,” the government statement said.
Ba suffered fatal head trauma and severe blood loss, according to Cheikh Atab Sagna, president of the Student Association of the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry.
He said Ba was not participating in the protests but was assaulted by police who entered student rooms before taking him to a nearby student welfare office. 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’s statement described Ba’s death as a result of injuries sustained during “serious events” on campus but did not give further details.
The Rights groups, including the Senegalese League for Human Rights and Amnesty International Senegal, has condemned what they described as the “disproportionate use of force by police” in a joint statement.
The university has announced that it will be closed until further notice
