By Edidiong Udobia

The unprecedented springing up of eateries, bars, lounges, night clubs, and parks in Akwa Ibom, has made the State a beehive of recreational activities. On daily basis, residents across age groups, social status and gender, cluster at their favourite hangouts to while away time.

When Kubiat Akpan, a 28-year old fresh graduate of Architecture from the University of Uyo, visited Eni Stores, a popular hangout in Uyo, on Sunday, 29 August, it was nothing unusual - not the day, the time or intention, was wrong. He was hale and hearty as confirmed by his relatives, friends and neighbours. Around 7pm on the said day, he was arrested by a team of police officers at the hangout, and by the evening of the next day, Monday, Kubiat was reported dead. His body was deposited in a mortuary as “unknown corpse’’ by the Police. [https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/483064-police-order-arrest-of-officer-over-torture-death-of-university-student.html]

An autopsy later confirmed that Kubiat died of torture. [https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/483404-nigerian-student-who-died-in-police-custody-was-tortured-autopsy-reveals.html] As I spent over six hours painfully watching the autopsy, I imagined the kind of torture that would have killed a sturdy young man within 24 hours in custody. Till today, the Police have not given a concrete reason why Kubiat was arrested in the first place. All the time I was on Kubiat's story, not a day passed that I didn't think of his aged sick parents - losing their only son in their frail old age. There is no solace to such grief, and no fortitude to bear the loss.

Emmanuel Dickson, a 26-year old artisan, was allegedly shot and killed point blank by a police officer in their family compound, Edoho Ukpong Street, Idua Road, Eket, on Sunday, 10 October. Emmanuel was returning home from an event where his parents were also in attendance, when he was accosted by some police officers just outside his home. Out of fear, he ran to his aunty's house for help, but one of the officers chased him to the house and allegedly shot him dead. I had a long discussion with Emmanuel's elder sister, Nelly Dickson and other residents of the area. The pain, anger and grief are real. [https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/490023-it-was-accidental-discharge-says-police-officer-who-allegedly-shot-dead-akwa-ibom-man.html] Like Kubiat, the Police are yet to tell the public what Emmanuel's offence was.

In the last three months, I have been on the trail of over six cases of police brutality within Akwa Ibom State. Unfortunately, Kubiat and Emmanuel were not lucky enough to survive their ordeals. Yesterday made it one year since the #EndSARS protest - an historic revolution where young people across the country protested against police brutality and demanded reforms within the Police Force. One year after, almost all the issues that led to the protest are still prevalent in the country. From the ceaseless abuse of human rights to the reckless killing of innocent citizens by the Police, nothing has changed for the better, not even in the slightest degree.

I spent the most part of yesterday reading stuff on social media. I saw people criticising the idea of a memorial protest, especially in Akwa Ibom. Basing their arguments on the casualties of the October 20 event, many of them insinuated that the a memorial protest was senseless. I've been curious. There is no general election in this State without scores of violence and deaths, how come people have never been told not to go out and vote again? Or could it be that the memorial protest was needless and senseless because it was about #EndSARS? So, for instance, ahead of 2023, if the APC should adopt a few strategies from their 2019 playbook like using the Police and other security agencies to lay siege on the State, will it be okay and sensible for the youths of Akwa Ibom to go out and protest like they did in 2019? Will it be an act of bravery if young people should go up against gun-wielding security officers and aggressively push through Police barricades just because the protest is about election and not #EndSARS?

The memorial protest was more than just a remembrance event for the Lekki Tollgate massacre. It was a further reminder to the country that the critical issues that led to the protest are still unaddressed. SARS may have been disbanded as a Unit, but the reckless officers and killer cops are still in the Force, so brutality is no longer a problem of a particular Unit, but now the de facto modus operandi of the Police. Within the last one year, Akwa Ibom has recorded many cases of Police brutality with some of them leaving the victims or their families permanently shattered, so it is sheer hypocrisy to criticize the #EndSARS memorial protest under the pretext of preaching safety. What is safety if a young man can be picked up in a public place by Police officers and tortured to death within 24 hours? Where is safety if a Police officer can chase an innocent citizen into his home and shoot him dead?

For whatever reason, people might feel convenient to sit and criticize or make mockery of other people's efforts just to take the wind out of their sails. The sad truth is, as the people's freedom shrinks, it squeezes everybody (regardless of current class and social status) into the same box. Somehow, somewhere, or sometime, everyone will have a feel of that inconvenience. Years ago, a certain man was the speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly. Years after, he became a senator of the Federal Republic. Today, nobody knows his whereabout weeks after he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen, and nobody seems to genuinely care. As a journalist, I have followed too many blood trails and written enough death stories to fully understand the emotions behind the agitation against Police brutality.

From the horrific images of Kubiat's battered body in the mortuary and Emmanuel's lifeless body in the pool of his own blood at a corner of their family compound, to the heart-wrecking stories by their relatives, I have every genuine reason to support the memorial demonstration. Rather than try to guilty trip people with the sad events of last year, give them hope-inspiring reasons not to protest. Tell us how much has the government done within the last one year to end police brutality and human rights abuses. Tell us how many times the government has waded into the reported cases of police brutality with the intention of giving justice to the victims.

It is not just enough to be condemning IPOB's extreme approach and at the same time also criticize the peaceful approach by law-abiding citizens. Nigerians cannot to just stay at home and wait to take their turns to die in the hands of the Police. So, for me, the #EndSARS memorial protest was necessary yesterday in Akwa Ibom, like every other state in Nigeria. It will be necessary next year, and the year after, until the issue of police brutality and human rights become as important as power to the government, and as delicate as law and order to the society.

Sòrò sókè