By Ben Mabande |WEST AFRICA – After waiting two months amid chaos, deaths, intimidations, and harassment, West African leaders have issued their first statement on the increasing bloody violence in Togo, calling on President Faure Gnassingbe and the opposition to pursue dialogue. Alassane Ouattara, Ivory Coast’s president, said he and his counterparts from Nigeria, Niger, and Ghana had met with Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe to discuss the crisis on Tuesday. “We believe negotiations are needed … and that these negotiations must lead to constitutional modifications already embarked upon,” he told reporters in Niamey on Tuesday at a meeting of the West African bloc ECOWAS. Opposition leaders say a coalition of 14 opposition political parties want to see President Faure Gnassingbe step down and a limit of two, five-year terms introduced for future presidents. Faure Gnassingbe has been in power for the past decade and a half.

Source: GNN Liberia October 26, 2017 08:03 UTC