One person was reportedly killed today in an area around Sogakorpe in the Volta region, as the youth around the area, got into a struggled with another man suspected to be a member of the Western Togoland group, who in recent times, have been attempting to fight for a separation of the Volta region from Ghana.
The young man between the age of 25-35, reportedly held on tight to a rifle of a military man from the 66 artillery regiment who were sent there by the Ghana Government to enforce law and order.
On Friday, armed men demanding the secession of Western Togoland from Ghana blockaded major entry points to the Volta region of Ghana on Friday morning.
Local sources say the group are holding three police officers hostage, including a District Commander, and attacked two police stations. Prior to the blockade, the group reportedly broke into an armory and stole weapons. About 12 hours before Friday’s dawn operation, the Western Togoland Restoration Front (WTRF) published photos of the graduation ceremony for around 500 personnel who underwent training for months in secret locations, raising questions over the effectiveness of security agencies in the region.
They intend to name the region Western Togoland, if they succeed in the secession move.
The area of Western Togoland is divided into five regions: Volta, Oti, Northern region, North East region and Upper East Region.
Western Togoland has been a member state of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization since 2017.
The movement says it wants to force the Ghanaian government to join United Nations (UN) facilitated negotiations aiming to declare Western Togoland an independent state.
Travelers urged to be cautious
Meanwhile, on Facebook, Ghanaian police have cautioned travelers to be aware of “security operations” in some communities in the Volta Region. The Volta regional minister, Archibald Letsa, urged travelers to remain calm and allow security personnel to do their jobs.
A tumultuous past
The territory of Western Togoland was first colonized by Germany in 1884 and incorporated into the Togoland colony. After Germany’s defeat during the First World War, the colony of Togoland was divided between France and Britain as protectorates. The western part of Togoland became part of Britain’s Gold Coast colony, which became independent in 1957 to form modern-day Ghana. Togo gained independence from France in 1960.
A previous unsuccessful attempt to declare Western Togoland independent from Ghana took place in 2017. In March 2020, around 80 members of the separatist group were detained for protesting the arrest of seven leaders of the Homeland Study Group Foundation. The charges were later dropped.
source: dw.com
