Page "Casamance conflict" Paragraph 1

According to historians, Senegal ’ s first president, Leopold Senghor, made a promise to Casamance ’ s leaders before independence from France in 1960 that if they joined Senegal for 20 years they would have their own independence afterwards.

When the government didn ’ t follow through on the promise in 1980, street demonstrations in the Casamance capital, Ziguinchor, turned violent.