By Solomon OKPO
What should alarm any serious observer of Akwa Ibom’s civic space is not merely that Ekid youths protested, but the manner in which the state responded. The heavy police presence that trailed the Ekid Nation protest over the alleged sale of the Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve sends a troubling message: that force, not dialogue, is fast becoming the government’s first language when citizens raise inconvenient questions.
Let us be clear. A visible and armed police cordon around peaceful protesters does not communicate neutrality or professionalism. It communicates intimidation. It frames legitimate civic agitation as a security threat rather than a constitutional exercise.
In democracies worth the name, police protect protesters; they do not loom over them as instruments of fear or silent enforcers of political interests.
The Ekid protest was not spontaneous hooliganism. It was rooted in a specific grievance: alleged non-consultative dealings over ancestral land and the arrest of a prominent advocate, Princess Gods’own Udoito. Instead of de-escalation through transparency and engagement, the state’s response appeared muscular, securitized, and dismissive. That is a strategic error with long-term consequences.
The optics are particularly damaging. When citizens protesting land ownership claims are met with overwhelming police deployment, it creates the impression that the state is less interested in resolving disputes than in suppressing dissent.
This perception, whether intended or not, erodes trust in institutions and deepens the belief that law enforcement has shifted from public service to regime protection.
More disturbing are the allegations surrounding Princess Udoito’s arrest claims of denial of access to counsel, family, and basic communication. If even partly true, they represent a grave affront to constitutional guarantees.
Advocacy is not sedition. Questioning government actions is not a crime. When police power is deployed to blur that line, democracy itself is weakened.
Governor Umo Eno’s administration would be ill-advised to underestimate the symbolism of Stubbs Creek Forest, Akoiyak, to the Ekid people. Land, especially ancestral land, is not merely economic capital; it is identity, history, and dignity. Attempts to resolve such sensitive matters through force or secrecy are destined to fail.
The wiser path is obvious and urgent: suspend all contested transactions, open the books, engage Ekid stakeholders transparently, and rein in any overreach by security agencies. Policing must return to its proper role protecting lives and rights, not shielding opaque decisions from public scrutiny.
Heavy police presence may silence a protest for a day. It will not bury the grievance. If anything, it hardens it. And when the state repeatedly chooses coercion over conversation, it should not be surprising when citizens conclude that justice is being guarded not served by men in uniform.
* Senior Citizen Solomon OKPO is a Seasoned journalist and media strategist, Head Media/Visibility ACJL State Working Group writes from Uyo.
