Akwa Ibom Residents Decry Alleged Police Extortion, Harassment At Multiple Checkpoints

Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, has come under heavy security deployment in what the Commissioner of Police, Baba Azare, described as a necessary measure to keep rampaging criminal elements at bay.
However, checks by LEADERSHIP revealed that the heavy police presence across the metropolis has created an atmosphere of unease, with commercial transport operators alleging routine harassment and extortion at several checkpoints across the sprawling Uyo Capital Development Authority (UCCDA), covering the peripheral local government areas of Uyo, Abak, Ibesikpo Asutan and Uruan.
Although organised crimes, particularly armed robbery, kidnapping and cultism, have reportedly reduced to the b...