The Senegalese deputy Guy Marius Sagna, staying in Lomé as part of the activities of the ECOWAS Parliament where he sits, was to participate this Sunday afternoon in a public meeting with the Togolese opposition platform DMP (Dynamique pour la Majorité du People). The meeting did not come to an end due to disruptions.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Lomé, Peter Sassou Dogbé
The meeting initially planned in a parish hall was canceled at the last minute, under pressure from the authorities, according to the opposition. The meeting was finally made at the headquarters of the Democratic Convention of African Peoples (CDPA). The meeting began with an introduction from MP Brigitte Kafui Adjamagbo-Johnson, but did not conclude due to disruptions.
Guy Marius Sagna has barely begun his speech when chairs rush from the middle of the audience towards the head table. A first… then a second… and it’s a stampede.
Chairs are broken, sound equipment and journalists’ recorders are thrown into a well, cell phones snatched… the activists disperse in confusion.
Big guns have infiltrated the crowd and outside the vehicle windows are smashed with concrete blocks.
The deputy Guy Marius Sagna, particularly attacked, was injured in the head and arm. He was transported on the back of a man to a nearby clinic for treatment. In the corridors of the clinic, he recounts the attack: “ They asked me: “Are you Togolese?” As if he were reproaching me for having claimed my togolity. Today, more than ever, despite this violence, I remain Togolese and I will stand alongside the brave Togolese people until the power in place respects the people. »
ECOWAS must no longer look away and bury its head in the sand regarding what is happening in Togo. It’s extremely serious, it’s extremely dangerous.
Guy Marius Sagna: “I energetically denounce what happened today”
There are at least seven injured, including Brigitte Adjamagbo-Johnson, his driver, and a journalist from a local radio station.
The big guys left with their faces uncovered, through the streets of the Bè district.