Two politically aggrieved youths claiming to be militants of the opposition Union of Forces Party who never accepted President Gnassingbé Eyadéma as the victor in last Juneâs presidential elections held in Togo decided to manufacture homemade molotov bombs to unleash violence in Lomé as the best way to register their political protest. After intensive research into the mechanics and intricacies of the manufacture of molotov bombs, 35 years old Agano Koffi, a Biology Professor at the Asie-College Complexe, believed to be the UFC regional youth leader of the Lomé Commune, in collaboration with 39 years old Godevi Ekue Vincent, painter by profession set upon the delicate enterprise to manufacture sophisticated cocktail explosives.
| Ummm... Bottle, rag, gasoline... What's intricate about that? |
This time, they hit the idea to produce them in a most lethal, and deadly form, using very sharp poisonous nails.
| Ohhh... Bottle full of nails, rag, gasoline... |
The strategy was to launch a blitz assault on strategic locations in Lomé by causing a series of bomb outrages and explosions. For some time, their painstaking ingenuity paid off as the two âengineersâ studiously applied their skills to materialise their scientific invention. But just as they were on the verge of success dame luck ran out on them. A crack team of the Togo Research and Investigations Brigade (BRI) swooped on their hideout and âBomb factoryâ on June 28, 2003 in Lomé.
| "Cheese it! It's the Togo Research and Investigations Brigade!" |
The swoop followed investigations carried out into the recent grenade explosion which ravaged LâOKAVANGO restaurant in Lomé which occurred on May 7, 2003 immediately after the UFC opposition leader, Gilchrist Olympio was disqualified from participating in the last presidential elections. The Research and Investigations Brigade caught the suspected bomb manufacturers virtually in the act with 155 locally made explosives, 40 bottles of cocktail molotov bombs, and 255 spikes of pointed nails. The suspects alleged that the materials for the explosives were stocked at their party headquarters in Lomé. Agano confessed, âwe had the intention to create a spiral of political violence through mass explosions in Lomé and other parts of the countryâ.
| "An' we'da dunnit, too, if the Togo Research and Investigations Brigade hadn't interfered!" |
But an obviously remorseful Agano and Ekue later expressed regret for their misadventure and criminal intentions, and duly presented their apologies on national television to the people of Togo.
| "I'm so sorry! Please don't hit me there again!" |
The two suspects alleged that the manufacture of the explosives was financed through members contributions of the UFC party, including donations from outside the country. The UFC party has since disassociated itself from the allegations.
But Principal Commissioner of Police Teko Koudouovoh Mawuli said the Police were trying to establish a link between the manufacture of explosives and the grenade explosion which rocked the LâOKAVANGO restaurant in Lomé in May this year. |