Togo Closes Border Crossing Point

Togo on Friday closed its main western crossing point with Ghana, with heavily armed Togolese security personnel patrolling their side of the border, the Ghana News Agency reported.

No official reasons were given for the closure at the Ghanaian border town of Aflao, just outside the Togolese capital, Lome.

However, travellers from Lome said the action might be connected with an anti-government demonstration planned for the Togolese capital.

GNA quoted Ghanaian border officials as saying their Togolese counterparts informed them that the closure was on "instructions from above." They could not tell how long the border would remain closed.

Some stranded travellers on the Ghana side of the border expressed disappointment with the Togolese action saying it was against the objectives of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Should the closure remain in force for a long period, it is feared that inter-state trade in salt, plastic wares and cola nut across the border would be affected.