Civic rights groups say at least seven people have been killed during a crackdown on protesters who are calling for Togo’s leader, Faure Gnassingbé, to step down and release political prisoners.
Seven bodies were recovered from rivers in the capital city Lomé, according to a coalition called Le Front Citoyen Togo Debout which accuses security forces and militias of committing abuses.
The Togolese government has denied these deaths were linked to last week’s demonstrations.
It is now threatening legal action against the protest organisers, calling the protests a “campaign of disinformation and hatred” that was orchestrated from abroad.
There is growing anger in Togo due to a crackdown on critical voices, and changes to the constitution labelled by labelled by critics and opposition figures as an “institutional coup d’état”.
These protests comes weeks after Gnassingbé – who was president for two decades and whose family has ruled the country for 58 years – was sworn into a new post of President of the Council of Ministers, which has no official term limits.
Demonstrations have been banned in the West African country since 2022, with the authorities citing “security reasons”.
Three days of demonstrations by online activists and youth-led movements began in Lomé on Thursday, before taking a violent turn on Friday and Saturday.
Tear gas was fired by anti-riot police at protesters, who pelted them with stones and other missiles.
Credit: bbc.com
