A schoolboy among five dead in the unrest in Senegal

A schoolboy was killed during violent protests in Senegal over the weekend, officials said, bringing the death toll from days of violence in the West African state to five.

Clashes erupted for the first time between opposition supporters and security forces on Wednesday after the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, and turned into the worst unrest in Senegal in years.

People torched cars, torched and looted shops, and threw stones at police during the protests, which highlighted long-standing grievances over living standards and economic exclusion.

On Saturday, people were protesting in the southern town of Diaobe against Sonko’s arrest, when “the situation rapidly deteriorated,” a security official told AFP.

Protesters torched a gendarmerie post, a customs post and several cars, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Shops were set on fire and looted in the unrest. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP)

A schoolboy was killed and six people were seriously injured in clashes, added the official, a report confirmed by a spokesperson for the Senegalese gendarmerie.

Senegal, a former French colony of 16 million inhabitants, is often presented as a beacon of stability in an unstable region.

But about 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

Sonko, 46, a fierce critic of Senegal’s ruling elite, was arrested on Wednesday for disturbing public order in the capital Dakar.

The move came after scuffles with opposition supporters erupted as Sonko went to court to answer a separate rape charge – which he said is politically motivated.

The Auchan supermarket was one of the stores targeted by the looters in Dakar. By JOHN WESSELS (AFP)

An opposition collective that includes Sonko’s Pastef party on Saturday called for three more days of protests from Monday, urging people to “take to the streets en masse”.

“ Grim economic situation ”

Sonko, who is seen as a key challenger to President Macky Sall, is also due to return to court on Monday to answer the rape charge.

Map of Senegal and the capital Dakar. By Aude GENET (AFP)

He is a staunch Muslim popular with young people and came third behind Sall in the 2019 election.

But his political future was suddenly darkened last month when rape charges were filed against him by a worker at a salon where, he said, he went for a back massage.

The allegation comes amid uncertainty as to whether Sall, 59, will seek a third term.

Senegalese presidents are limited to two consecutive terms, but Sall launched a constitutional review in 2016, raising suspicions that he intends to run again.

Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko faces a rape charge which he says is politically motivated. By Seyllou (AFP / File)

On Saturday, the Economic Community of 15 West African States, which includes Senegal, urged all parts of the country to exercise restraint and remain calm.

ECOWAS also called on the government “to take the necessary measures to ease tensions and guarantee the freedom to demonstrate peacefully”.

Ndeme Dieng, an opposition member who tried to calm things down during the protests, said the vast majority of the protesters were unemployed youth.

“The gloomy economic situation has made people take to the streets and show that they have had enough,” he said.

In addition to daily pressures, coronavirus restrictions have also damaged livelihoods in a country where most people work in the informal sector.