In Togo, since the arrest of two members of the citizens’ movement Tournons la Page, Armand Agblézé and Oséi Agbagno, on August 22, 2025, a wave of arrests has followed. The victims are Chimene Akou Apevon who works as a paralegal; Yawo Attiso, Secretary-General of the Union of Students and Pupils of Togo (SEET); Abdoul Zoulkaneini Lamboni, a member of SEET; and another student identified as Julien Komandéga Katakam, whose situation remains unclear.
Chimene Akou Apevon, was arrested on August 28 around 5:30 p.m. while returning from work. Five days later, on September 2, 2025, she was remanded in custody and sent to Lomé State Prison. She is accused of aggravated disturbance of public order, incitement to violence, undermining state security, and attempting to destabilize state institutions. According to some sources, she had met with Armand Agblézé and Oséi Agbagno the day before their arrest.
Yawo Attiso, Secretary-General of SEET, and Abdoul Zoulkaneini Lamboni, a SEET member, were arrested on the evening of September 3, 2025. They were reportedly apprehended by plainclothes police officers in a vehicle. No official information has been provided by the authorities regarding the reasons for their arrests.
These arrests further deepen the already alarming decline in freedom of expression in Togo, which has worsened since the June 2025 demonstrations. The recent detention of Armand Agblézé and Oséi Agbagno on August 22, 2025, brings the total number of arrested dissenting voices to six.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) strongly condemns this wave of arbitrary arrests targeting young activists, students, and defenders of freedom of expression in Togo. These detentions, most of which are carried out without official communication of charges and in disregard of due judicial process, represent a serious violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Togolese Constitution and international human rights instruments to which Togo is a signatory.
The MFWA calls on the Togolese authorities to unconditionally release Chimene Akou Apevon, Yawo Attiso, and Abdoul Zoulkaneini Lamboni, arrested for expressing their opinions, as well as all protesters detained during the June 2025 protests.
