News
Akwa Ibom poly students protest insecurity, police brutality
By Francesca Hangeior
Thousands of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, in Ikot Osurua, Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state on Monday protested the high level of insecurity and police brutality, declaring that they are no longer saved.
The protesters led by the student union president, Geoffrey George, converged at the institution’s main gate around 8:15am chanting solidarity songs and displaying placards of various inscriptions
Some of the placards read “End Police brutality now”, “protect, save, don’t abuse”, “This Extortion Must Stop” among others.
Speaking with journalists at the school entrance on Monday, George recalled how students have suffered at the hands of police and hoodlums within the community.
“Last week, there was a trending video on social media where a student of the institution was beaten and dragged on the ground by policemen.
“Students face extortion by policemen in Ikot Ekpene. We are not safe especially those students living in the communities within the school environment.
“Hoodlums snatch phones from students and even kill them. We have buried more than five students in the last one year. They were killed by thieves who broke into their houses, collected their phones and killed them while police looked the other way, ” George stated.
One of the student activists who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the protest must continue to draw government attention to the plight of students in the institution.
“The Rector called SUG Executives this morning and warned that the protest should not continue but we say no because our students are in danger.
“Nobody will stop us. We must cry out for the world to know that the police are not helping us here. Our colleagues are dying while they are busy extorting money from poor students.”
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Timfon John, said the state Commissioner of Police, Baba Azare, has invited the student to a meeting to resolve all issues affecting them.
“The Commissioner of Police Baba Azare has invited the students to a meeting this morning. We are waiting for them to come. There would be no protest.
“Those students you saw at the school gate this morning are preparing to come for a meeting with the Police Commissioner,” John said.
According to him, such financial mishandling not only disrupts critical public services and projects but also results in major losses to the nation’s purse—resources that could have been channelled into crucial services and developmental efforts, as laid out in Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution.
Speaker Abbas, thereafter setup a Special Committee to be chaired by Rep. Chinedu Martins to immediately launch a probe into the “Utilisation of take-off grants, bailout funds, and interventions allocated to MDAs, government institutions, and GOEs from 2015 to present.”
The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, expressed satisfaction with the progress on the Abuja light rail project, reaffirming its May 29 delivery as sacrosanct.
He made these assurances after inspecting the ongoing construction of access roads to the train stations on Wednesday, from Metro Train Station in the Central Area to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Reassuring journalists accompanying him, the minister reiterated that President Bola Tinubu would commission the rail project on May 29 to mark his second year in office.
The visited stations were Wupa station near Idu and Bassanjiwa station near the airport.
“This is part of our routine inspection of ongoing projects to see the contractors’ progress,” Wike explained.
“We are working day and night to fulfill our promise to President Tinubu and FCT residents. By May, Mr. President will ride on the Metro line.”
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen are currently invading some communities in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.
According to sources, the herdsmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed the community around 04:15pm on Thursday.
“Our lives are in danger this evening, armed Fulani herdsmen, about 600 in numbers have taken over our communities this evening,” a resident told SaharaReporters.
“They’re currently moving around towns in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue state. No security personnel at all, Governor Alia didn’t send security, they said operation will start soon once they (herders) have observed the place.”
The insecurity situation in Benue has been alarming in recent weeks with attacks from gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
The media had reported that suspected herdsmen again unleashed terror in Benue State, attacking three communities in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) on Wednesday, just a day after 11 people were killed in a deadly raid on Otobi community.
The latest victims of the escalating violence were Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju, communities that had previously suffered an attack in February, which left five people dead.
However, the renewed attack has created fear and mass displacement among residents, with women and children fleeing to safety.
Local sources say the death toll from the fresh attack remains unclear, but several casualties are feared.
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