By Ogar Monday
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force today in Calabar the Cross River State capital, tear gassed scores of protesters asking the State Government to stick to its campaign promises, improve the standard of living and forget the change of the state’s logo.
The protesters who came under the auspices of Arise Cross River, De Mandate and Enough-is-Enough, knew there would be trouble when they got to the take off point of the protest at the millennium Park only to see heavily armed Police men in over 5 hilux trucks surrounding the park.
The protesters then introduced themselves to the police and told them their mission.
An officer with the Police addressed the protesters and told them they had intelligence that some persons were planning to hijack the protest and disrupt the children’s day celebration and told them they cannot use the venue.
Carrying placards that bore furious slogans like ‘the Cross River We knew had no potholes”, “the Cross River we knew enabled SME’s to thrive”, “the Cross River we knew used to be safe every time and day” amongst others, the protesters moved to Barracks and were granting interviews and taking pictures when the Police fired a live shot into the air and fifteen minutes later moved in on the protesters firing tear gas and threatening to “use force” on them if they didn’t leave.
Speaking to CrossRiverwatch, one of the organizers of the protest, a comedian and host of the popular Otwetwe popular radio show, Awede Friday, decried the Police highhandedness adding that “this is not even a protest is a walk to call the attention of the Government to some of the things that are not going right in the state”.
Awede decried the state of Tinapa, and the ugly state of the state capital and said it was for that purpose they have gathered as patriots to call the attention of the Government only to be harassed by the police.
