Togo detains six opposition members over reform protest

Lome: Togo authorities have jailed six opposition members on public order charges, their lawyer said Saturday, after they tried to denounce a contes...

Lome: Togo authorities have jailed six opposition members on "public order" charges, their lawyer said Saturday, after they tried to denounce a contested constitutional reform.

Political tensions have heightened since the west African nation's parliament passed the reform law and the government postponed an April 20 legislative election.

Opposition parties have called for three days of protests next week over the election delay and the reform which they say is a bid by President Faure Gnassingbe to stay in power.

Gnassingbe in 2005 succeeded his father who ruled Togo for more than three decades following a coup.

Nine members of the Dynamique Monseigneur Kpodzro, or DMK movement, were detained Thursday after publicly campaigning against the reform, the group said.