Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Students of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, have protested against police brutality on students in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state.
Addressing Journalists at the polytechnic campus on Monday, the SUG President, Comrade Geoffrey George, narrated 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, rolling 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 the police looked the other way,” he said.
One of the student activists, who preferred anonymity, said the protest must continue to draw government attention to the plight of students in the institution.
“The Rector called the 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,” the activist stated.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer for Akwa Ibom (PPRO), DSP Timfon John, while reacting to the incident, said the State Commissioner of Police, Baba Mohammed Azare, has invited the students 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,” Azare said.