Separatist movement intended to destabilize Volta Region ahead of polls – MP

The Member of Parliament for Ho Central Benjamin Kpodo says the Separatist movement in the Volta region is intended to destabilise the region before the December polls.

He says the move is part of a plan to project the Volta region as unstable ahead of the polls.

“We are getting to December 7 and these things are happening here. And someone [whose name I won’t mention] has said that if these things keep happening, there’ll not be elections in the Volta Region. It should tell you that these things are being plotted to destabilize the Volta Region so that elections do not happen here,” he told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Wednesday.

He added: “These things are done lackadaisically to project Volta Region as a region with no security so that elections do not happen there. Or military will be deployed there during elections”.

Meanwhile, Chiefs of the Asogli State Council in Ho have cautioned members of the Western Togoland separatist group to desist from engaging in violence and channel their grievances through the appropriate means.

The call follows another attack allegedly undertaken by the group on Tuesday, where two vehicles belonging to the State Transport Corporation (STC) in Ho were set ablaze, while a driver in the yard was also assaulted.

The attack which was launched around 2:30 am marks second heightened violence and the destroying of state properties in the spate of a week.

But addressing the media in the evening of Tuesday in Ho, Togbe Adzilakle Howusu XIV, the Warlord of the Asogli State, speaking on behalf of the Agbogbomefia Togbe Afede XIV and the chiefs of the Asogli State, condemned the group’s actions while calling on government to ensure that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to book.

He said, “We condemn the act purported to have taken place in this region by the Western Togoland in no uncertain terms; the roadblocks, the burning of lorry tyres in various parts of the Volta region, the attack on the police stations at Mepe and other places, the seizure of police vehicles and burning of the STC vehicles in Ho. These were criminal acts which we urge the government to conduct investigations and those involved be made to face the full rigours of the law.”

The Council also warned that it may be forced to deploy its local troops to defend and protect its territories if such actions continue to fester.