Shock on Senegalese Campus After Violence

Dakar (AFP) – Senegal ordered the closure of student residences at a major university in Dakar on Tuesday, a day after a medical student died during clashes with police, shocking the university community.

University students have been protesting against the thorny issue of stipend arrears for several years.

Economic difficulties in the heavily indebted west African country weigh particularly heavy on the young.

Those protests came to a head on Monday on the campus of Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), a prestigious west African university with a student body in the tens of thousands.

Videos posted to social media showed scenes of chaos, with security forces entering university grounds and firing tear gas into buildings while students retaliated by throwing stones.

A government spokeswoman said "serious events" had resulted in the death of second-year medical student Abdoulaye Ba, without providing further detail or mentioning the campus violence.

She added that the government would ensure an investigation.

However a medical, pharmacy and dentistry student association described Ba's death as the result of "police torture", a claim that could not be independently verified by AFP.

Authorities have arrested an estimated 100 students and the number is on the rise, an official with the Association of Young Lawyers of Senegal, which has offered free legal assistance, told AFP.