Police Arrest 11 Mubi Poly Students In Uyo

Eleven students of Akwa Ibom origin studying at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi in Adamawa were arrested on Monday at Government House, Uyo by men of the the state police command.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the students numbering more 50 had gathered at the entrance of Government House with placards.

They wanted to draw the attention of the state governor to the plight of their colleagues in Adamawa, following last week's mayhem at Mubi Polytechnic.

Some of the placards they carried read: ``Our Dear Gov. Godswill Akpabio come to our aid. Akwa Ibom Govt. provide us with admission, Please send rescue team to bring our students, We can’t go back to Mubi''.

The Government House security operatives in attempt to disperse the students used tear gas on them, bruised some with whips and arrested 11 of them while the rest run away for dear lives.

Narrating their ordeal to NAN, the Secretary General of National Association of Akwa Ibom Students (NAAKIS), Mubi chapter, Mr Ibetedem Inyang, lamented that the security operatives in Government House had inflicted injuries on his members.

Inyang, who is an HND 2 student of Mechanic Engineering at Mubi Polytechnic, said that they were not riotous when they approached the entrance of Government House.

The students scribe said that they gathered there with intention of reporting their ugly experiences to the state governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, who is known for his large heart.

``We have lost all our property, we are only lucky that no student from Akwa Ibom died, only one or two sustained injuries.

``We are 400 students and 20 staff members from Akwa Ibom at Mubi Polytechnic,” Inyang said.

When NAN contacted the Uyo Area Commander of the State Police Command, ACP Patrick Garba, whose jurisdiction the incident took place, he claimed that he was not aware of the incident.

``No person came to brief me, I am taken aback. I was representing the Commissioner of Police at a church service to mark the opening of the 2012/2013 legal year of the state judiciary,” Garba said.

He, however, made inquiries and confirmed that 11 students were detained at A Division of his command.

The area commander said that his men had to disperse the students to prevent the gathering from becoming riotous and that the 11 arrested were those that resisted the police order.

``Now that the coast is free, I have ordered that they be released,'' Garba said.