page_title: 2017–2018 Togolese protests
section_title: August 2017
hierarchical_section_title: 2017–2018 Togolese protests / History / August 2017
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Des manifestants tentent d’affronter la police à Lomé, Togo, 19 août 2017. (VOA/Kayi Lawson) English: Protesters trying to fight the police, Lomé, Togo, 19 August 2017
context_page_description: The 2017–18 Togolese protests are a significant representation of civil unrest in Togo and against the 50 year rule of the father-son combination of Gnassingbé Eyadéma and Faure Gnassingbé. The protesters demanded that the president honour the 1992 constitution, and demanding that he step down immediately. Gnassingbé offered the protesters the option of enacting the two-term limit set in the constitution effective from 2018, thus ensuring that he could stay in power until 2030. This has been rejected by the opposition. However, on 8 May 2019 the Togolese Parliament voted unanimously to accept this amendment and imposed this non-retroactive term limit on the president's office.
  As the protests continued, the opposition started focusing more on protesting Gnassingbé's rule. Starting in August 2017, the opposition held protests on a near-weekly basis. The scale of the protests have been enormous, with some estimates claiming 800,000 present at one protest in a country of 6.6 million. The demonstrations are also taking place all over the country, even in the north, the traditional power base for the Gnassingbé family.
context_section_description: On 19 August, thousands of protesters took to the streets, mostly in the city of Sokodé. Some protesters chanted "50 years is too long". Protests also occurred in Lomé, Bafilo, Anié, and Kara. Security forces shot and killed two civilians while dispersing protesters. Other civilians burned security vehicles and killed seven security men. Photographs of the violence spread on social media.  About 27 people were arrested, and 15 protesters identified as supporters of the Pan African National Party were given jail sentences of 5–9 months. Some of those arrested later said they were tortured at the headquarters of Togo's secret police, and placed in Lomé's central prison.
  Opposition parties called for a general strike to take place on 25 August, which slowed business and caused Lomé to enter a security lockdown. Togolese minister Gilbert Bawara criticized the strike, calling it "the campaign of terror, intimidation and threats".  Togolese Prime Minister Komi Sélom Klassou led a pro-government counter-protest in Lomé on 29 August.  Ghanaian immigration officers increased security of the Ghana–Togo border for Togolese fleeing to Ghana because of the unrest.
caption: Protesters trying to fight the police in Lomé, 19 August 2017.
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