Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), Senegal’s largest university, has suspended all student associations following violent protests over unpaid stipends that left one student dead.
The decision was announced by the university’s academic council after the death of Abdoulaye Ba, a second-year medical student, who sustained fatal injuries during a police operation on campus earlier this week. University authorities said they were “deeply affected by this tragedy” and had opted to suspend student groups as a precautionary measure until further notice.
The unrest erupted after students demonstrated over delayed grant payments — a longstanding grievance in Senegal’s public universities. Videos shared on social media showed chaotic scenes, with security forces entering the campus and firing tear gas into buildings as students responded by throwing stones. Footage verified by AFP appeared to show police officers beating a man with batons.
An autopsy report circulating online indicated that Ba suffered multiple traumatic injuries, including haemorrhages to a lung and kidney, brain bleeding caused by concussion, and a ruptured spleen. A source who witnessed the autopsy confirmed he had sustained several haemorrhages. However, the precise cause of his injuries remains unclear.
Ba’s uncle, Mamadou Dioulde Ba, has urged judicial authorities to clarify the circumstances surrounding his nephew’s death.
The government described the incident as a “tragedy” and acknowledged police brutality but defended the security intervention. Interior Minister Mouhamadou Bamba Cisse accused some students of attempting to vandalise university property during the protests.
Meanwhile, a coalition of student associations blamed President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the prime minister and other officials for the deadly confrontation, holding the government responsible for the violence.
Protests over unpaid stipends have frequently disrupted Senegal’s academic calendar, with student and staff strikes sometimes lasting months. The latest unrest underscores ongoing tensions within the country’s higher education sector, where financial delays and clashes with police have become recurring flashpoints.
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