Senegal’s largest university has suspended student associations after violent demonstrations over unpaid grants led to the death of a student. The victim’s family has called on the judiciary to clarify the circumstances of his death after an autopsy report circulating on social media showed multiple traumas.
Issued on: 13/02/2026 - RFI
Police vehicles in front of the UCAD campus in Dakar following the death of student Abdoulaye Ba. © Pauline Le Troquier / RFI
University gates and residences at the Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in the capital Dakar have remained closed since a second-year medical student was killed in unclear circumstances during a police intervention.
The student, Abdoulaye Ba, died on Monday following injuries sustained during a security intervention at the UCAD campus.
UCAD's academic council said late Thursday that it had been "deeply affected by this tragedy" and, for safety reasons, had decided to "suspend, on a precautionary basis and until further notice, the student associations".
Videos posted on social media showed scenes of chaos, with security forces entering university grounds and firing tear gas into buildings while students retaliated by throwing stones.
In one video, authenticated by France's AFP news agency, police are seen beating a screaming man with batons.
Senegal says student's death in clashes with police a 'tragedy'
Family calls for clarity
An autopsy report of the victim circulating in the media details multiple traumas, including haemorrhages in one lung and left kidney, bleeding in the brain caused by concussion and a ruptured spleen.
A source who witnessed the autopsy confirmed to RFI that Ba had suffered multiple haemorrhages.
It is still unclear what caused the student’s injuries.
On Thursday, in a brief statement to the press, the victim’s uncle Mamadou Dioulde Ba called on judicial authorities to “clarify the circumstances surrounding Abdoulaye Ba’s death”.
A number of social media posts relayed a photo of the young medical student in the lab.
Student becomes first death in growing Senegal election protests
University gates and residences at the Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in the capital Dakar have remained closed since a second-year medical student was killed in unclear circumstances during a police intervention.
The student, Abdoulaye Ba, died on Monday following injuries sustained during a security intervention at the UCAD campus.
UCAD's academic council said late Thursday that it had been "deeply affected by this tragedy" and, for safety reasons, had decided to "suspend, on a precautionary basis and until further notice, the student associations".
Videos posted on social media showed scenes of chaos, with security forces entering university grounds and firing tear gas into buildings while students retaliated by throwing stones.
In one video, authenticated by France's AFP news agency, police are seen beating a screaming man with batons.
Senegal says student's death in clashes with police a 'tragedy'
Family calls for clarity
An autopsy report of the victim circulating in the media details multiple traumas, including haemorrhages in one lung and left kidney, bleeding in the brain caused by concussion and a ruptured spleen.
A source who witnessed the autopsy confirmed to RFI that Ba had suffered multiple haemorrhages.
It is still unclear what caused the student’s injuries.
On Thursday, in a brief statement to the press, the victim’s uncle Mamadou Dioulde Ba called on judicial authorities to “clarify the circumstances surrounding Abdoulaye Ba’s death”.
A number of social media posts relayed a photo of the young medical student in the lab.
Student becomes first death in growing Senegal election protests
Unpaid grants
The government has called Abdoulaye Ba’s death a “tragedy” and admitted to “police brutality”.
But Senegal’s Interior Minister Mouhamadou Bamba Cisse also defended the police intervention, accusing students of attempting to damage campus infrastructure.
A student association collective said it held Senegal’s president, prime minister and other government officials responsible for the deadly violence.
Senegalese students have been rallying over outstanding stipends for years, with demonstrations sometimes leading to clashes with police.
The country’s university academic calendar is often disrupted by student and faculty strikes. As a result, students can go months without receiving their stipends.
(with newswires)
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