Lome – An alliance of seven opposition parties in Togo held a peaceful rally on Saturday in the capital Lome, after two years of bans due to Covid restrictions or for security reasons.
The West African nation and neighbouring Ghana, Benin and Ivory Coast are facing a growing jihadist threat spilling across their northern borders from Niger and Burkina Faso.
Supporters of the Dynamique Monseigneur Kpodzro (DMK), which includes the different opposition parties and with six civil society groups, gathered in Be Kodjindji, one of their strongholds.
A few police officers patrolled nearby streets, but there were no incidents reported. The DMK also organised a rally last November in Vogan, 41 miles (67 kilometres) north of Lome.
“I have a feeling that we are getting closer to our goal of liberating this country,” DMK coordinator Brigitte Adjamagbo-Johnson told AFP.
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“We have shown that it is now possible to organise rallies in Lome and everywhere in Togo.
“Political activities must resume. Togolese people have to mobilise themselves to save this country that is in a very bad state, 60 years after our independence,” she added.
Several opposition leaders addressed the crowd, criticising what they said was the government’s “silence” on the situation in the north, which has recorded at least five attacks since November 2021.
“The government has stopped communicating on terrorist attacks in the north…,” said Gerard Adja, a DMK leader. “We are all Togolese and deserve to know what is happening to our soldiers there.”
Last November, local media reported a deadly attack on armed forces, which AFP was unable to confirm. The authorities refused to comment on the matter.
In December, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe sacked the country’s armed forces minister and appointed a new chief of staff as part of a major military reshuffle.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pixabay
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