Students of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Ikot Osurua, yesterday, took to the streets in protest against police brutality and insecurity of life and property in Ikot Ekpene Local Council of the state.

The protesters, led by their Student Union (SUG) President, Geoffrey George gathered at the school gate at about 8:15a.m., with different placards with inscriptions such as “End Police brutality now”; “Protect, Save, don’t abuse” and “This extortion must stop”, among others.

Last week, there was a trending video on social media where a student of the institution was beaten, dragged and rolled on the ground by police officers.

Speaking at the Polytechnic Campus, the SUG President recalled how students have suffered in the hands of the police and hoodlums within the community. He said: “Students face extortion by police officers 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.”

A student’s activist, 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,” the student bellowed.

Meanwhile, state’s Commissioner of Police, Baba Mohammed Azare did not responded to enquiries at press time as he neither picked calls from The Guardian nor respond to text messages.