Togo security forces clashed on Tuesday morning with demonstrators in Lome following the arrest of opposition leaders Jean-Pierre Fabre, and Patrick Lawson of Togo’s main opposition Union of Forces for Change (UFC) party.
An earlier report report indicated that presidential aspirant Nicolas Lawson had been arrested. However sources confirmed on Wednesday that the man arrested was Patrick Lawson, a vice president of the UFC, and along with Fabre the party’s spokesman. The presidential candidate Lawson was not arrested, sources said.
The UFC officials were released on Wednesday morning, after being charged in connection with the burning of a petrol station in early May.
Later the same morning, supporters of incumbent President Gnassingbe Eyadema paraded around the city in a convoy of at least 50 cars and on bikes to celebrate what they said was a victory for their candidate in Sunday’s presidential elections.
Sources said that Lawson and Fabre were arrested for calling ”people to revolt”. Upon hearing of their arrest, their supporters took to the streets, especially in pro-opposition areas of Lome.
Heavily armed security forces were quickly deployed. An unconfirmed number of people were beaten while others were arrested, the sources said.
Early results in the elections showed Eyadema, who has ruled Togo since 1967, ahead of Lawson and four other candidates. With more than 59% of the ballots, officials at the national electoral commission said Eyadema had taken a clear lead. Final results are expected on Wednesday.
Election observers from the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and the Entente Council [a loose grouping of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger and Togo] told reporters that they did not witness widespread fraud as the opposition had claimed. While there were some irregularities, they said, the voting went on smoothly, and the irregularities did not discredit the vote.
On Monday, the opposition parties had said the elections were marred by fraud and vote rigging in favour of Eyadema. The candidates had demanded a rerun of the polls. The government denied the opposition claims. – Irin