MFWA says four people killed in opposition demonstration in Togo

21 Octobre 2017

Banjul, Gambia, October  21 (Infosplusgabon) - The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on Friday said there has been another deadly crackdown on opposition demonstrations in Togo resulting into the death of four people.

According to the rights body, an 11- year-old boy, Zomake Jojo, was killed by a bullet fired by security forces in Lomé on 18 October 2017 and three more people were killed in Sokode, some 300 km north of Lomé.

“The MFWA finds the developments in Togo extremely disturbing and wishes to call for an end to the police violence against protesters. We reiterate our call on the government to initiate dialogue on the demands of the opposition in order calm tensions in the country,” the body said in a statement obtained by Infosplusgabon.

MFWA also quoted Togo’s Security minister, Colonel Yark Damehame, as confirming the three deaths in Sokode during a press conference in Lomé on October 19.

“The latest deaths bring to nine the number of people killed by security agents in Togo since August 19 when the political opposition began a series of demonstrations across the country to press for the restoration of presidential term limits,” the statement noted.

It recalled that two people were killed on August 19, and three more on October 5 as protesters continued to stage series of demonstrations against the Gnassingbe dynasty which has ruled Togo for 50 years.

President Faure Gnassingbe is in his 12th year in power, having taken over from his late father who had ruled for 38 years.

“The latest deaths in Togo have outstripped the seven who were killed in Guinea earlier this year. In February, a students’ demonstration in Conakry was violently quelled, resulting in the deaths of five students and two other citizens,” MFWA decried.

It said on October 10, the Togolese government toughened its stance by announcing a ban on week-day demonstrations. But at a press conference organized on the first day of the latest demonstrations, the opposition insisted that the ban was illegal.

“It is an outright illegality and we have challenged it”, remarked Brigitte Adjamagbo, president of the coalition of opposition parties in Togo.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/YTU/GABON 2017

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