Tony Anichebe 
The day two #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest in Akwa Ibom State almost turned violent on Friday when operatives of the Nigeria Police in the State opened canisters of tear gas to disperse a group of protesters who had gathered at the Ibom Plaza, the epic centre of social activities in the state to kick-start the hunger protest.
Some Journalists in the State who came to cover the protests were also hit by the teargas in the process while interviewing the protesters.
The action by police operatives ignited anger and condemnation from citizens especially ones doing business around the area describing it as uncivilized and rude against unarmed protesters who were very peaceful in their approaches.
It took a quick intervention from more police operatives who were drafted immediately to the scene to calm the raging anger of the protesters and others from what would have degenerated into anarchy.
The protesters displayed placards with various inscriptions such as, “End bad governance in Nigeria; “End corrupt governance in Nigeria, End hunger in Akwa Ibom State, reduce fuel price to N100 and End Japa syndrome in Nigeria among others.
Our Correspondent reports that the protesters were singing and chanting solidarity songs, when the police opened the canisters on them and matched them off to the Unity Park, along Udoudoma Avenue, where they had been restricted by the Commissioner of Police in the state.
One of the protesters Mr Uyime Etim who spoke with journalists at the plaza, before the police swooped on them said they were out because life in Nigeria is becoming unbearable for an average person to cope with.
“We are here to protest against hardship in the country; against hunger; against the high cost of living and against the high pump price of petroleum products per litre.
“In this country, we can do better as a people, we cannot produce crude oil in Nigeria and buy fuel at N900 per litre, this is unacceptable.
“An average person cannot feed his family again because of the way things are going, The FG said it has increased the minimum wage for workers to N70,000, which is useless because it cannot buy a bag of rice.
“If you collect N70,000 as minimum wage, you need to borrow N20,000 to add before you can buy a bag of rice. We want a bag of rice to be brought back to N10,000 and the price of fuel down to N100” he said.
Our Correspondent reports that the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Waheed Ayilara had restricted the protests to Unity Park ground only to forestall being hijacked by hoodlums.
