Togo’s opposition is defying a government ban on weekday protests by planning a second day of protests today.
Four people were shot dead – one of them a boy – in clashes yesterday between protesters and security forces in the country’s two largest cities, Lomé and Sokodé.
It follows months of on-and-off demonstrations against the regime.
On Tuesday, clashes following the arrest of an imam caused the deaths of two soldiers and two civilians.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the government confirmed that imam Djobo Mohamed Allassani, the Sokodé representative for one of the main opposition parties, had been arrested for allegedly calling for violence and sedition.
Rights group Amnesty international says the human rights situation in Togo is deteriorating at a worrying pace.
Since mid-August, hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated throughout Togo, to demand the return of the 1992 constitution – which included a limit of two presidential terms – and the end of a 50-year political dynasty.
BBC
