Barely hours after he returned home, following his detention on rape allegations, Senegal’s opposition leader Ousmane Sonko called on his supporters to participate in a rally this Monday afternoon, at “Place de la Nation”, in Dakar where dozens of Police in riot gears were on stand-by. Shortly after a period of standoff with the Senegalese security personel, the police charged the demonstrators using tear gas and batons to disperse the pro-Sonko followers.
Ousmane Sonko said he intended to make a statement during the rally, according to his spokesperson Me Abdoulaye Tall. It did not take minutes for hundreds of Sonko’s followers to storm “Place de la Nation”. Some of them are even boarding buses availed to them free of charge in different corners of the Senegalese capital.
Meanwhile, “Y’en a Marre” rights group movement leader, Thiat, has been released as well as other protesters held in custody since Thursday at the Thiong gendarmerie and other detention centres in Dakar.
At 20:00 Dakar time, Senegal’s President Macky Sall is expected to make a national address on Senegal’s national television RTS, about the ongoing political fracas that has claimed the lives of five people in Dakar and other regions of the country.
According to our sources in Dakar, the head of state will announce the end of some restrictive measures adopted by the security apparatus to curb the spiral of violence, including the curfew in Dakar.
