Togolese nationals residing in Nigeria on Thursday stormed their country's embassy to Nigeria in Lagos to protest the current political situation in the tiny West African country.

The protesters, numbering more than 100, carried placards with various inscriptions, rejecting the appointment of Deputy Speaker Abass Bonfoh as interim Togolese leader.

The protesters, organized by the Togolese Association For Democracy (TAD), insisted the appointment of Bonfoh was nothing but "a machinery to rig the presidential elections slated for April."

Togo was plunged into crisis following the death of Gnassingbe Enyadema who ruled the country as president for 38 years in early February.

The subsequent appointment of his son Faure Gnassingbe by the military to succeed his father did not go down well with the opposition and the international community.

The installation and the subsequent retroactive amendment of the constitution to make the move technically legal, sparked widespread outrage and deadly clashes between protesters and security forces.

According to Togo's constitution, speaker of the parliament wasto become the country's interim president after Enyadema's death.

Amid strong pressure from the United States, the United Nationsand West African leaders, Faure stepped down on Feb. 25, paving the way for a fresh presidential election, and he has vowed to run.Instead of the speaker of the parliament, deputy speaker Bonfoh was installed as the interim leader afterwards.

"Faure and his cohorts have successfully cleared the house and have put in place a machinery to rig the elections," Maurice Fangnon, leader of the protesters, alleged.

He blames the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of lifting the sanctions on Togo when Faure resigned and not insisting on the return of the Speaker Fambare Natchaba to assume office as interim president in consonance with Togo's constitution.

"If we must speak the language of the people, Bonfoh Abass mustgo," he said.

Fangnon urged Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is alsoAfrican Union (AU) chairman, to bring his leadership position to bear on the crisis in Togo, warning that if the situation was allowed to snowball into bloodshed, the AU and ECOWAS leaders would be held responsible.

Source: Xinhua