The day after the death of a medical student during violent clashes with the police in Dakar, the Senegalese Minister of the Interior, Mouhamadou Bamba Cissé, spoke on Tuesday of a "tragedy", announcing the opening of an investigation likely to lead to "sanctions" against the police officers involved.

Published on: 02/10/2026 - 10:22 p.m. Modified on: 02/10/2026 - 10:23 p.m.

The Senegalese government on Tuesday February 10 described as a "tragedy" the death of a student at a large university in Dakar which is causing turmoil in the country, recognizing "acts of violence" by the defense and security forces during their muscular intervention on the campus.

Students at Senegalese universities have regularly protested in recent years against late payment of their scholarship arrears, demonstrations punctuated by occasional clashes with the police. The serious economic difficulties that Senegal has been facing for many months are further weighing down the daily lives of many Senegalese, particularly young people.

On Monday, a medical student, Abdoulaye Ba, died from his injuries after the intervention of the defense and security forces (FDS) at the emblematic Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD), where students had launched a protest movement for several days to demand payment of their scholarship arrears.

Renowned in West Africa, UCAD welcomes tens of thousands of students.

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“What happened yesterday (Monday) constitutes a tragedy,” declared the Senegalese Minister of the Interior, Mouhamadou Bamba Cissé, at the end of the day on Tuesday during a press briefing, regarding the death of the young student.

“There were acts of violence that we observed on both sides, and acts that we saw emanating from the defense and security forces. As a (hierarchical) superior, these are acts that I cannot condone,” he said.

“There should be no more police blunders in Senegal,” he added, affirming that an investigation had been opened, which could lead to “sanctions”.

He reported 48 injured among the police, without mentioning the number of injured among the students.

Concerning the intervention of the FDS in the university, the minister assured that his services had received "precise information showing that certain people were going to attack the infrastructure of the social campus" of the university.

Campus closed

He claimed that students had started "attacking the university restaurant" on Monday morning to damage it, and thus justified the intervention of the FDS to "protect" public property, further accusing certain students of holding tear gas grenades and of having made Molotov cocktails.

After these clashes, the authorities closed the UCAD "social campus" (university campus, editor's note) on Tuesday "until further notice", forcing hundreds of students living in accommodation on the campus site to pack their bags and leave the university.

A collective claimed on social networks that 105 students are currently detained in the central police station in Dakar.

Videos filmed by students and posted on social networks during the night of Monday to Tuesday bear witness to the violence of the clashes at UCAD between security forces and students.

In some images, members of the security forces are seen entering the university grounds, firing tear gas into the buildings while students respond with stone throwing.

The UCAD friendly collective, for its part, affirmed that Abdoulaye Ba had "been brutally tortured to death by the police", according to a press release sent to AFP.

The collective, which had declared a black day without demonstrations on Monday, accuses the police of having "shot at students" and of having "broken down the doors of the pavilions while beating up the students".

"The government must pull itself together and make decisions so that this situation does not repeat itself. Because we are fed up..." Oumar Ba, 26, a mathematics student, told AFP near the university.

"Our comrade Mr. Ba died yesterday. We don't want this kind of thing... It must be settled once and for all," added Omzi Diaw, a 24-year-old student.

Several months without a scholarship

Several human rights organizations have expressed their “deep concern about the persistence of violence in Senegalese public universities for several months”.

Angry students criticize the government for wanting to permanently eliminate the payment of their scholarship arrears.

Read alsoAbroad, Gabonese studies threatened by scholarship delays

The university calendar has been experiencing disruptions for several years, causing overlap between the different academic years. Because of this situation, scholarship students can go months without receiving their scholarships.

In Senegal, around 75% of the population is under 35 years old.

The victory of Bassirou Diomaye Faye and the Pastef party in the 2024 presidential election, brought to power by the promise of a break, has aroused great hope among young people strongly engaged in the fight which brought this party to power.

Despite the election of new authorities, the problem of integrating young people is still relevant in 2026.

With AFP

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