Boy killed at huge protests over Togo president’s tenure
LOME, Togo — A 10-year-old boy was killed and 10 others injured in Togo’s capital as hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters demonstrated Wednesday against a vote by the West African nation’s parliament on a bill they fear will allow the president to run for more terms, the security minister said.
Togo’s security minister Col. Damehame Yark blamed opposition members for the violence, saying they brought weapons to the demonstrations.
Thousands of people across the small West African nation have been demonstrating since last month for term limits on President Faure Gnassingbe, who has been in power since his father died in 2005. The Gnassingbe family has ruled the small West African nation for 50 years.
Security forces killed at least two people and injured several others in demonstrations in August, and used tear gas to break up another peaceful protest this month.