The organisers of the end SARS campaign which has gripped the country for several days over police brutality and killing of youths have suspected their planned protest in Akwa Ibom State.
The protest was scheduled to hold on Tuesday after youths and activists have been mobilised across many local government areas of the state.
One the organisers stated on his social media handle that though the police had denied them the permission to organise a peaceful protest, they were not deterred adding that the protest would go ahead as planned.
However, according to Ofonime Honesty, a social activist and also one of the organisers, the scheduled protest which was to terminate at the state police command has been put on hold.
“Sequel to the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police by the Inspector General, Mohammed Adamu, our planned march to the Akwa Ibom State Command of the Nigeria Police, slated for Tuesday, October 13, 2020, has been put on hold’ he said.
“While awaiting full implementation of the IGP’s order, we wish to thank patriotic citizens who overwhelmingly indicated interest to defy the odds by thronging streets for a protest on Tuesday.
They commended civil society groups and some human rights lawyers including. Inibehe Effiong, Augustine, and Clifford Thomas for their show of solidarity during their mobilisation towards the protest.
While urging “everyone to remain calm as we monitor the situation,” they urged the youths to keep their “spirits high even as we explore how to best address other human rights issues in the polity, especially as they concern the police establishment.
The state government has yet to make any statement on the campaign to end the human rights abuses by the special unit of the police.
Last year, an official of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state, Obong Udofia was allegedly hacked to death by four policemen in a car park.
Udofia, 45, was the chairman of a Task Force on ‘anti-touting’ of Itam Park near Uyo.
It was gathered that the argument broke out between the task force members and a policeman who was using his private car to convey passengers from the park.
In the ensuing scuffle, the policeman was said to have called four of his colleagues attached to a construction company near the park for support.
It was further learnt that Udofia was hit with the butts of the gun and injuries inflicted on his head.
Magaret, the wife of the deceased was quoted to have said that she was returning from the market that evening when she was called on the telephone that her husband had been assaulted by policemen and rushed to the hospital.
“By the time I got there, he was already gasping for breath. He died in my presence. I learned a policeman in mufti was taking passengers near the park when members of the task force working for my husband accosted him and asked him to go into the park instead of doing so near the park.
She said her husband was inside a car at the park, unknown to him that the policeman had called four of his colleagues on guard at the construction company to join him.
“They arrived at the park immediately and shot at my husband. When the bullets did not hit him, they resorted to using gun butts to hit him till he became unconscious,” she said.
The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Odiko Macdon, had confirmed the incident but said an investigation into the matter was ongoing.
He assured the people that the outcome of the investigation would be made known to the public and appealed to them not to take the law into their own hands.
Sadly, more than a year after, nothing has been about the outcome of the investigation by the police.
