Senegal university crisis: Student bodies suspended after deadly unrest

Senegal's largest university said Thursday it had suspended student associations after violent demonstrations over scholarship payments turned deadly.

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.

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".

Senegalese students have been rallying over outstanding stipends for years, with demonstrations sporadically punctuated by clashes with law enforcement.

The issue came to a head this week on the UCAD campus.

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 AFP, police are seen beating a screaming man with batons.

The government has called student 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, and has called for UCAD to shutdown "until further notice".

Senegal's university academic calendar has for years been disrupted by student and faculty strikes, causing overlaps between different academic years.

As a result, students can go months without receiving their stipends.