Togo returns to calm after deadly protests over fuel price hike
Xinhua, March 1, 2017 Adjust font size:
Togo's capital Lome returned to normal on Wednesday after violent demonstrations against fuel price hike resulted in one death on Tuesday.
Before day-break on Wednesday, security and military forces have been positioned in strategic points of Lome, as Togolese authorities stepped up security measures to avoid the resumption of demonstrations.
On Tuesday evening, in a broadcasted release, the government called for calm and regretted the death of a civilian by firearm during demonstrations.
"One people killed and one injured by firearm among demonstrators" while several police officers were injured, according to the government.
The increase in the fuel prices at the filling stations, effective from February 28, applies for two-stroke mixture, super unleaded gasoline and kerosene.
It was a result of the "combined effects of the fluctuations in the global prices in energy commodities and the surge in the value of U.S. dollar", the government said.
The government underscored that five decreases in fuel price had been carried out over the period from December 25, 2015 to January 26, 2017 and that it continued to subsidize fuel prices. Enditem