The United Nations and the United States of America have reacted to the high tension in Senegal over violence that have brought death toll to fifteen since the court convicted opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
According to the statement attributed to the UN Secretary- General Spokesperson, stated that UN closely following developments in Senegal relating to the protests that erupted in the aftermath of the sentencing of Mr. Ousmane Sonko.
Sonko, a 48-year-old former tax inspector, was initially charged with rape but was on Thursday convicted on a lesser charge of morally “corrupting” a young woman and sentenced to two years in prison.
The Secretar-General, Antonio Guterres condemned the use of violence, called for calm and urged stakeholders to exercise restraint, while extended deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed during the clashes.
According to the statement released by the State Department Spokesman, Matthew Miller said as strong friend and partner to Senegal, the United States is troubled and saddened by the violence and damage we have witnessed in many parts of the country.
Adding that United States offer deep condolences to the families, friends and associates of those who have died, and wished a fast and full recovery to those injured.
The Senegal’s strong record of democratic governance, rule of law, peaceful coexistence is something for which the Senegalese people can be rightfully proud while urged all parties to voice their views in a peaceful manner.
Sonko’s ongoing legal woes have prompted rare flare-ups of violence in Senegal, typically a bastion of stability in West Africa, and foreign allies have urged a return to calm.
Disturbances reported on Saturday in the suburbs of the capital Dakar, the clashes brought the death toll to 15 since a court convicted opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
But several neighbourhoods that had experienced outbursts of violence on Thursday and Friday remained calm, said the Minister of the Interior, Antoine Diome.
He said that there had been “a drop in intensity” of the demonstrations, adding that “about 500 arrests” had been made since the start of the protest movement.
He added that the government suspected overseas involvement. “There is foreign influence and it is the country that is under attack,” he said, declining to elaborate.
The toll has now surpassed the number killed in multi-day protests in 2021, when supporters of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko first took to the streets over a rape trial they say is politically motivated. Sonko denies any wrongdoing.
Sonko’s sentencing on Thursday, which could prevent him from running in the February presidential election, sparked the latest turmoil as protesters heeded his call to stand up to the authorities.
Mobs smashed windows and looted at least two gas station shops overnight in Dakar’s Ouakam, Ngor districts, while a supermarket in densely populated Grand Yoff was torched and ransacked. Rubble littered the roads that were scarred black by fires as reported.
