Police tear gas anti Ayade protesters, barricade Millennium Park

Police command in Cross River state at the weekend tear gassed hundreds of youths who protested against the performance of state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade. The protesters asked Governor Ayade to stick to his campaign promises, improve the standard of living and forget the change of the state’s logo.

Investigations conducted by our correspondent revealed that the protesters who came under the auspices of ‘Arise Cross River’ were aware of the police intention and also knew there would be trouble when they got to the take off point of the protest at the millennium park as they saw heavily armed Police men in over five Hilux trucks surrounding the park.

The protesters however, introduced themselves to the police and told them their mission. The police addressed the protesters and told them they had intelligence report that some persons were planning to hijack the protest and disrupt the children’s day celebration and told them they cannot use the venue.

In spite of the warning by the police, the protesters carrying placards that have various inscriptions such as ‘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,’ among others, moved to Barracks road and were granting interviews and taking pictures when the police fired a live shots into the air and 15 minutes later swooped on the protesters firing tear gas and threatening to “use force” on them if they didn’t leave.

Speaking with newsmen, the protesters lamented the police high handedness with one of them who spoke on condition of anonymity saying: “this is not even a protest; it is a walk out to call the attention of the government to some of the things that are not going on right in the state. This was the purpose of our gathering as patriots, to call the attention of the government only to be harassed and tear gassed by the police.”