Togo holds two opposition leaders on security-related charges

Togolese authorities are holding two opposition leaders on accusations of plotting to destabilise the internal security of the state.

Brigitte Adjamagbo-Johnson, who in 2010 was the first woman in the country to run for president, has been in custody since Saturday.

Her colleague, Gerard Djossou of the DMK party was the first to be arrested on Friday.

The country's public prosecutor said an investigation was underway to establish the duo's role in the charge.

The two had called for a demonstration over the weekend to denounce president Faure Gnassingbé. But Police did not clear the march citing the coronavirus pandemic.

Gnassingbé won re-election in a vote in February but the opposition has accused him of rigging his way to victory.

He has been in charge of the country since 2005 when his father Eyadema died while in office. He had ruled for 38 years at the time.

In 2017, mass protests against the ruling Gnassingbe family dynasty broke out across the west African country before government used force to stop them.