Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – Tensions flared once again at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) on Tuesday as longstanding delays in student stipend payments ignited fresh unrest, prompting a heavy-handed response from security forces that resulted in fire outbreaks inside student residences.

According to eyewitness accounts, confrontations began around 6 a.m. after anger over the non-payment of scholarships—an issue students describe as “persistent” and “unbearable”—boiled over.

Students erected barricades and blocked major campus roads to demand immediate disbursement of their stipends, many of which have been delayed for months, leaving some in serious financial distress.

Security forces were deployed at dawn in an attempt to clear the roads. What followed, students say, was a disproportionate and indiscriminate reaction. The Defense and Security Forces (FDS) fired tear gas canisters widely across the campus, striking not only groups of protesting students but also residential buildings.

The situation escalated dramatically when one of the tear gas canisters landed inside Building A of the campus residences, igniting a fire and triggering panic among occupants.

Witnesses described scenes of chaos as students scrambled to escape the smoke-filled apartments, accusing security personnel of firing “at anything that moved.”

While the clashes echo similar tensions reported on campus the previous day, the fire incident has heightened concerns about the forceful methods used in crowd control and the potential for severe harm.

Students have vowed to continue sit-ins and road blockades until the government addresses the stipend delays that lie at the heart of the crisis.

As of Tuesday afternoon, authorities had not issued an official statement on injuries, arrests, or the extent of property damage.

With tensions still running high, many fear that unless the underlying issue of late scholarship payments is resolved, UCAD’s campus may again descend into confrontation.