Senegal university student dies after protest clashes with police

Students carry their belonging as they leave the Cheikh Anta Diop University on February 10, 2026. A student died after clashes erupted between police and students protesting delays in grant payments at a Senegal university, the west African country’s government said on Tuesday. The unrest broke out at Cheikh Anta Diop University in the capital Dakar on Monday, according to a statement by a government spokeswoman, who said a second-year medical student, Abdoulaye Ba, died as a result.

(Photo by Patrick MEINHARDT / AFP) A medical student has died after clashes erupted between police and students protesting delays in grant payments at a major university in Senegal, the government said on Tuesday. The death comes amid a difficult economic climate in the heavily indebted west African country, where students have protested the thorny issue of stipend arrears for several years. The university, which has tens of thousands of students, resembled a battlefield on Monday.

The student movement at UCAD accuses the government of aiming to permanently halt scholarship arrears payments. Government spokeswoman Marie-Rose Khady Fatou Faye offered the government’s “deepest condolences” to Ba’s “family, loved ones and the entire university community”. She said that “serious events” had led to his death, without providing further detail, and added that the government would ensure an investigation.

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The statement further called on all parties to exercise restraint and act responsibly. A press conference is scheduled for later in the day at the prime minister’s office, with the ministers of justice and interior plus the armed forces expected to attend.

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