Demonstrant: ”Vi har bara ett vapen, att marschera!”

The 2017–18 Togolese protests are a significant representation of civil unrest in Togo and against the 50 year rule of the father-son combination of Gnassingbé Eyadéma and Faure Gnassingbé. The protesters demanded that the president honour the 1992 constitution, and demanding that he step down immediately. Gnassingbé offered the protesters the option of enacting the two-term limit set in the constitution effective from 2018, thus ensuring that he could stay in power until 2030. This has been rejected by the opposition. As the protests continued, the opposition started focusing more on protesting Gnassingbé's rule.Starting in August 2017, the opposition has held protests on a near-weekly basis. The scale of the protests have been enormous, with some estimates claiming 800,000 present at one protest in a country of 6.6 million. The demonstrations are also taking place all over the country, even in the north, the traditional power base for the Gnassingbé family. The Togolese government has responded to these protests by shutting down the internet, or block various apps, such as WhatsApp. The protesters have utilised social media, using the hashtag #togodebut for publicity. The protests and police response have resulted in the deaths of at least 16 people, including two soldiers. As of August 2018, Gnassingbé has offered some concessions to the opposition, but has held onto power due to his crackdown on activists.