Dakar universities rocked by renewed clashes between students and police

Cheikh-Anta-Diop university in Senegal's capital has been the place of unrest since early December. Students have been protesting a lack of financial aid from the government, leading to clashes with police. On Friday, the situation there deteriorated again. Other institutions also saw protests.

It has been thirteen months since their study bursaries were paid, say students at Cheikh-Anta-Diop university in Dakar. For them, the situation can no longer continue like this.

In early December 2025 already, students took to the streets to protest over the late payments of their financial aid.

Students throwing rocks were met with teargas from security forces, whose help authorities requested.

On Friday, the situation became tense again when the CROUS (regional centre for university services) announced it would close all student canteens after dinner on Friday, following what it denounced as "acts of sabotage" by students.

The latter had called for "days without tickets", meaning that they would refuse to pay for their canteen meals, in protest over the late financial aid payments.

Students responded with protests in several universities. Heavy clashes with police took place across the city.