Togolese opposition members arrested over campaign against new constitution

FILE PHOTO: A billboard of president Faure Gnassingbe, presidential candidate of UNIR (Union for the Republic), is pictured on a street in Lome, Togo, February 19, 2020. Picture taken February 19, 2020. REUTERS/Luc Gnago//File Photo

LOME (Reuters) - Nine Togolese politicians who were running a campaign against a new constitution that could allow President Faure Gnassingbe to extend his 19-year rule have been arrested, a spokesperson for an opposition coalition said on Thursday.

Opposition voices are growing in the tiny phosphate-producing West African nation over constitutional reform that could change the way the president is elected.