Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – An investigation by Africa Check has formally contradicted the Senegalese government’s account of a video presented as evidence of student violence at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (UCAD), deepening controversy over the circumstances surrounding the death of student Abdoulaye Ba.
The fact-checking organisation said in a report published on 13 February 2026 that the footage broadcast by Interior Minister Mouhamadou Bamba Cissé during a 10 February press conference was not filmed on the day of the fatal unrest, as officially claimed.
Video Timeline Contradicts Official Account
At the press briefing held a day after Ba’s death, Cissé showed a video depicting an individual hurling what he described as a Molotov cocktail from Pavilion A on the UCAD campus.
The minister asserted that the footage was recorded on 9 February 2026, the day clashes broke out and Ba was killed, and cited it to justify what authorities termed a necessary security intervention.
However, Africa Check’s analysis challenges that narrative. The organization said visual elements in the footage, particularly the absence of metal security grilles on the balconies of Pavilion A, demonstrate that the recording predates the February 9 events.
Fact-checkers who visited the campus on 11 and 12 February observed that protective metal grilles had been installed on all balconies of the building façade in question. In contrast, these features are missing from the minister’s video.
According to Africa Check, the communications unit of the Centre des œuvres universitaires de Dakar (COUD) confirmed that the metal grilles were installed on 26 January 2026.
Their absence in the circulated footage indicates the video was recorded before that date and therefore cannot document the violence linked to Ba’s death.
The revelation raises serious questions about the government’s communication strategy at a time of heightened tensions within Senegal’s higher education sector.
Authorities had accused students of possessing weapons and explosive devices, while student associations allege that police used disproportionate force during the operation that led to Ba’s death.
Africa Check further stated that neither the police nor the Interior Ministry responded to requests for clarification regarding the video’s actual date or for access to its original metadata. The lack of response, combined with the material discrepancies identified, has fueled allegations of public misinformation.
SAES Demands Truth, Accountability, and Care for Injured Students
Meanwhile, the Dakar Campus Coordination of the Syndicat Autonome de l’Enseignement Supérieur (SAES) issued a strongly worded statement on Friday addressing what it described as a critical situation at UCAD.
The union rejected what it called any attempt to reduce the tragedy to a purely administrative or security matter. It directly attributed responsibility for campus destabilization to state authorities and warned against normalizing the events surrounding Ba’s death and the reported injuries of several other students.
Placing truth and justice at the centre of its demands, SAES said no lasting calm could be achieved without a rigorous clarification of the facts. Citing preliminary autopsy findings, the union called for the establishment of accountability in strict accordance with the rule of law and condemned all forms of brutality.
The organization also urged public authorities to assume full responsibility for the medical and social care of injured students, insisting that affected families should not bear the financial burden of what it described as a collective national crisis.
The developments add to mounting scrutiny over the handling of the unrest at UCAD, as calls grow for an independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Abdoulaye Ba’s death.
