Senegal Varsity Closes Campus, Suspends Student Groups After Protests Turn Deadly

Senegal’s largest university has announced the suspension of student associations following violent protests over unpaid scholarships that resulted in a fatality.

Authorities shut the gates and student residences at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar after a second-year medical student, Abdoulaye Ba, was killed under unclear circumstances during a police intervention.

UCAD’s academic council, in a statement issued late Thursday, said it had been “deeply affected by this tragedy” and announced it would “suspend, on a precautionary basis and until further notice, the student associations” to restore calm and ensure safety on campus.

For several years, students across Senegal have staged protests over delayed stipend payments, with demonstrations occasionally escalating into confrontations with security operatives. The dispute intensified this week at the UCAD campus, triggering widespread unrest.

Footage circulating on social media captured scenes of disorder, showing security personnel moving onto university grounds and discharging tear gas into buildings, while students responded by hurling stones. In one video verified by Agence France-Presse (AFP), officers were seen striking a man who was heard screaming, using batons.

The government described Ba’s death as a “tragedy” and acknowledged incidents of “police brutality” during the intervention. However, Interior Minister Mouhamadou Bamba Cisse defended the operation, alleging that protesting students had attempted to vandalise university facilities.

Meanwhile, a coalition of student associations said it holds Senegal’s president, prime minister and other senior government officials accountable for the fatal violence and has demanded that UCAD be shut down “until further notice”.

Senegal’s higher education system has long struggled with recurring disruptions caused by strikes by both students and academic staff. The frequent interruptions have created overlaps between academic sessions, often leaving students without stipends for extended periods.