On June 26, 27, and 28, 2025, the capital of Togo was rocked by a wave of protests against the regime of Faure Gnassingbé. At the end of this popular mobilization, civil society reported at least seven deaths, including two young people from Benin, found lifeless in the waters of the fourth lake of Agoè-Lomé.
The two Beninese killed during these events were settled in Lomé, where they worked on the outskirts of the capital. According to Professor David Dosseh, spokesman for the Front Citoyen Togo Debout interviewed by Enjeux d’Afrique, they were intercepted in the middle of the night when they were returning home after a night out with friends, on the eve of the demonstrations. Their bodies were recovered from the waters of the fourth lake, then transported and buried in Benin by their families, without any autopsy being performed.
“These are two brothers from the same family, found dead in the middle of the night. There is talk of drowning, but no healthcare professional was present at the time of the discovery and no autopsy was performed,” laments Professor Dosseh, who disputes the official version communicated by the authorities.
The human toll of these three days is heavy. Seven deaths, several dozen serious injuries, and at least sixty arrests have been counted. According to testimonies collected by the Front Citoyen Togo Debout, several of the bodies found had traces of projectiles. One of them, a 16-year-old teenager who had just passed the BEPC, would have been shot while participating in the demonstration. Other victims would have been killed while trying to rescue the wounded, like a public restroom attendant fatally hit as he dived to save a child.
Professor Dosseh also denounces a strategy of “terror”, involving not only the security forces but also armed militias, some masked. “This was not an operation to maintain order, but an operation of repression,” he hammers, highlighting the disproportionate violence used against unarmed young protesters.
The anger rises, the power wavers
Togolese civil society also reports serious violations of human rights, such as warrantless searches, forcible entries, theft of personal property, or arbitrary arrests in neighborhoods known to be “favorable to the opposition”. Also, some injured avoided going to hospitals, for fear of being arrested. Worse, tear gas shots were reported in health centers, which caused a fire in an ambulance and threatened the life of a newborn in Adakpamé.
In response to these abuses, health professionals have announced a three-day strike to protest the violation of hospital immunity, now ignored by Togolese security forces.
For David Dosseh, the atmosphere is explosive and “anger is rumbling. The youth are ready for a showdown. The government must urgently take strong measures to defuse the tension”. He recalls that the Togolese power is going through a period of instability since the resignation of the government last May, and that even within the regime, voices are rising to criticize the standstill and the repression.
Civil society calls for independent, potentially international, investigations and plans to seize the special rapporteurs of the United Nations. For beyond Togo, it is the image of an authoritarian regime that prevents the democratic rooting in the African continent that human rights defenders want to denounce.
“Togo has become a laboratory for bad democratic practices. If this deadlock is broken, many things could change in Africa,” concludes Professor Dosseh.