Western Togoland: Secessionists sentenced five years each to prison
The convicts were arrested in September 2020 following attempts to declare parts of the Volta and Oti regions as independent state to be called ‘Western Togoland’.
The Accra High Court (Criminal Division) on Tuesday sentenced five secessionists of the Western Togoland Restoration Front (WTRF) to five years each in prison.
The five were arrested in September 2020 after they blocked the Aveyime road and subsequently attacked the Aveyime and Mepe Police Stations in the Volta Region, in an attempt to declare parts of the Volta and Oti regions as an independent state to be called ‘Western Togoland’.
The court last week found them guilty for offences under the Prohibited Organisations Act 1976 (Supreme Military Council Decree/SMCD20).
Delivering her sentence, presiding judge, Justice Mary Yanzuh noted that the actions of the accused persons were premeditated, aggravated, and an affront to the national security, and Ghana's sovereignty.
She added that the decision to impose a harsh sentence, (even though the accused persons had already spent over 2 years on remand) would discourage acts that tend to jeopardise the national security and sovereignty of the country.
Ebenezer Gblorkpor, Afetorgbor Kpogo, Joseph Nyamewu, Wisdom Kumor, and Israel Bessah Kpexor were convicted on charges for attending meetings contrary to section 2(1) (b) of SMCD 20, making contributions to the funds of a prohibited organisation contrary to section 2(1)(g) of DMD 20, participating in the campaign of a prohibited organisation contrary to section 2(1)(d) of SMCD 20, and being a member of a prohibited organisation contrary to section 2(1)(i) of SMCD 20.
