Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The public prosecutor in Dakar has dismissed allegations of police violence in the death of university student Abdoulaye Ba, stating that he died after jumping from his dormitory window to escape a fire, an explanation strongly contested by the victim’s family and student representatives.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, February 17, Prosecutor Ibrahim Ndoye said Ba, a student at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, died on February 9 after leaping from the fourth floor of his dormitory while attempting to flee a blaze that had broken out in an adjacent room.
The prosecutor’s account aligns with a video widely circulated on social media and, according to him, rules out any link between Ba’s death and police violence.
Law enforcement officers had intervened on campus the same day in an operation that drew criticism for its heavy-handed approach.
However, Ba’s family says the explanation raises more questions than answers.
Mamadou Dioule Ba, the student’s uncle, said the family finds it difficult to believe that Abdoulaye would have jumped from the building.
“Abdoulaye Ba was not mentally ill. He was very pious and religious,” he said. “What kind of smoke, however thick, could have prevented him from leaving normally? The prosecutor spoke of a sealed door. It is very difficult for us to accept this before we have read the autopsy report, which we have requested.”
Although the autopsy report reviewed by authorities does not contradict the theory of a fatal fall, student groups are also demanding further clarification.
In a statement issued on February 18, the UCAD Students Association accused the state of attempting to absolve itself of responsibility.
Cheikh Mbaye Ngom, a member of the association, said they were not dismissing the possibility of a fall but insisted that key questions remain unanswered.
“Can someone fall from the fourth floor without breaking a bone? Responsibilities must be established at the highest level of the state,” he said.
The association has maintained its strike action, calling not only for justice for Abdoulaye Ba but also for other students who have died in past incidents allegedly involving police violence.
Government Finally Investigates Police Operatives Involved in the Campus Violence
Meanwhile, Senegal’s Interior Minister Bamba Cissé has sanctioned several senior police officials following the unrest at the university. The officers, who supervised the February 9 operation at the university campus, have been relieved of their duties and placed at the disposal of investigators to determine their roles.
Those suspended include the commander of the intervention company, the head of the Dakar operational group, the commissioner of the Point E district, and the commander of the Thiès mobile intervention group.
In a related development, student leaders who had been detained for a week in connection with the protests were released on bail.
The case continues to fuel tensions on campus, with the prosecutor’s conclusions failing so far to satisfy demands for a fuller, independent account of the circumstances surrounding Abdoulaye Ba’s death.
