Former Kildare resident calls for help to get him released from African jail

A former Kildare resident and Irish citizen in jail in Toga in West Africa has called on the Irish government to step in and help get released back to his family.
Abdoul-Aziz Goma, aged 52, arrived in Ireland in 1999 as a refugee and later gained Irish citizenship.
However the Toga native was imprisoned in his home country in 2018 after officials claimed he was supporting demonstrators protesting over the country's authoritarian president.
Goma has since alleged that he has been tortured and treated in a cruel and inhuman way.
After arriving in Ireland in 1999, Mr Goma lived in Celbridge and later studied business in Whitehall College in Dublin and worked for a delivery company.
He said: “I was unfairly accused of bringing and hosting young people in Togo for political demonstrations against the regime and was arrested on December 21, 2018 and imprisoned since then in the civil prison of Lomé-Togo.”
He added: “My health has deteriorated beyond a critical point and I need proper treatment immediately.
“Ireland is known to have a prestigious reputation for human rights. I desperately request the intervention of the Irish government to seek my release and bring me home safely to my family.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs said diplomats are providing consular assistance to Goma but declined to comment further.

Consular assistance
A spokesperson told the Leader: “The Department of Foreign Affairs is aware of this case and is providing consular assistance.
“As with all consular cases, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific details of the case.”
The case has also been highlighted by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, who is from Ireland.
She said: “Abdoul Aziz Goma has been jailed and tortured for providing support and shelter to young people who were exercising their right to protest peacefully.
“While it’s the authorities in Togo who have done this to him, he’s Irish and the Irish government should take responsibility in calling publicly for his release.”
Togo, which occupies a a narrow strip of land on Africa’s west coast, has been criticised in the past for its human rights record and political governance.
The leader of the country is Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema who succeeded his father, who died in 2005 after ruling the country with an iron fist for 38 years.
Constitutional changes in 2019 allowed the president to seek re-election and potentially stay in office until 2030.