Police Assault LEADERSHIP Correspondent, Shut Him Out of Akwa Ibom Govt House
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno
Police operatives manning the gate to the Akwa Ibom State Government House, Uyo, the state capital, allegedly manhandled a correspondent of LEADERSHIP newspaper and prevented him from gaining access to the Government House.
The incident, according to the journalist, occurred when he visited the Government House to deliver a letter to the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor.
He alleged that the police officers at the gate subjected him to harassment and treated him in an unprofessional manner before ordering him to leave the premises.
The incident followed what appeared to be a stringent and highly restrictive approach to the admission of visitors into the Government House, with security personnel turning back individuals whom they considered to have no legitimate business within the premises.
Reliving his ordeal in the hands of the armed officers, Mr. Iniobong Ekponta, a journalist with LEADERSHIP newspaper, said he was on the premises to deliver a letter to the CPS when the officers allegedly became hostile towards him and questioned his presence.
According to him, a female police officer manning the visitors’ register raised an alarm after he had passed through the gate and was proceeding towards the Press Centre, where the CPS’s office is located.
He alleged that the officer subsequently called him back and threatened to have him detained at the security post.
Recounting the exchange that followed when he returned to the gate, Ekponta said the officer questioned him, asking:
“Is this your house? Are you working here?”
He said he responded:
“No, I only came to drop a letter.”
According to him, the officer replied:
“Yes, I noticed that your face is strange. That is why I had to return you.”
Ekponta alleged that the alarm raised by the female officer, which he said suggested that he was a suspicious person within the Government House, attracted other male police officers to the scene.
“The alarm she raised, as if I was a common criminal in the Government House that we journalists report on every day, attracted other male officers, who joined in shoving me away from the gate,” he narrated.
The journalist questioned the circumstances under which the Government House, a public institution and a major centre of state administration, had allegedly become inaccessible to journalists and other visitors without specific clearance or an official permit.
He called on the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, to look into the incident and prevail on security personnel attached to the Government House to exercise greater civility, restraint and professionalism in the discharge of their duties.
According to him, the Government House is not only the administrative centre of the state but also an institution that projects the image and character of Akwa Ibom to residents and visitors.
He therefore urged security personnel stationed there to balance the need for effective security with respect for members of the public and accredited professionals who have legitimate reasons to visit the premises.
Ekponta also appealed to the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, led by Comrade Nsibiet Udo John, to intervene in the matter and engage the relevant authorities on the treatment of journalists seeking access to the Government House.
He said such engagement would help establish clear and professional procedures for admitting journalists and other legitimate visitors into the premises, while ensuring that security measures do not undermine the dignity of members of the press or impede their lawful professional responsibilities.
