What was meant to be a peaceful protest against police brutality turned sour for students of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, as police officers fired tear gas at the protesters on Monday.

The students, who were fed up with the incessant harassment, extortion, arrest and abuse by the police officers in the area, marched through the streets of Ikot Ekpene on Monday morning.

While multiple sources reported that police officers fired tear gas at students during the protest, Timfon John, the spokesperson for the Akwa Ibom State Police Command, neither confirmed nor denied the claim when FIJ contacted her.

In her response, she stated that the police had to disperse “some youth, mostly not students, [who] mobilised to attack the station in Ikot Ekpene”.

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FIJ learnt that recent encounters with the police triggered the protest. Wisdom Okon, a National Diploma (ND) graduate of the polytechnic, told FIJ that a student was unlawfully detained and assaulted by police officers in the Abiakpo area of the state on Friday night.

Okon said the student was brutalised and was only released after the police found no evidence of wrongdoing on his phone.

FIJ also sighted a Facebook post detailing the experience of some other students who were harassed and arrested for no reason on Wednesday.

The post by Fidelity Effiong reads in part: “On Wednesday 12/03/2025, 9:24 PM, at Library Avenue, Ikot Ekpene, the policemen from Ikot Ekpene Area Command harassed me, one media personnel and two of my friends all in the same school.

“They arrested us for no reason after searching us and found nothing. They tagged us prostitutes and smokers/fraudsters just because I own an iPhone. They hit us in the station with a very big stick as though we were animals. They looked me in the face and said they didn’t care if I died of the asthma attack I had there.

“They seized our phones so we couldn’t call for help. A female officer catcalled me and said so many bad words to me. I witnessed how they treated other victims as well. They extorted N10,000 cash from us. They released us at an unfriendly hour (some minutes past 12:00 am) to go. They claimed to have supernatural powers (juju).”

Pictures and videos monitored by FIJ showed the students in large numbers, some of them holding placards with inscriptions demanding justice and an end to police harassment, extortion and brutality.

“Every night, we cannot sleep because of thieves and the police would be nowhere to be found. It is after the incident that you will find them. What the police do is rob students of their hard-earned money. Once they ask you where is your phone, you have no choice but to give them. Students are exhausted. They are saying enough is enough. EndPolice brutality in the school and its environs. Every day, it is either harassment or you are robbed,” said one of the protesters in a video.

Some of the photos and video clips also captured armed police officers along with the protesting students.

In some clips, FIJ saw protesters scrambling for safety as tear gas spread through the air.

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In response to FIJ’s inquiry via WhatsApp, ASP Timfon John, the police spokesperson in Akwa Ibom, wrote, “The complaint of extortion was not formally lodged at the station but on social media. Even at that, the commissioner of police directed for discreet investigation into the matter.

“However, today, some youth, mostly not students, mobilised to attack the station in Ikot Ekpene. The police dispersed them. The commissioner of police had a meeting with the school management, and the student union and resolved the matter while the case of extortion is being investigated accordingly.”

Abimbola Abatta is a reporter with FIJ, writing reports in partnership with Report for the World which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.