Akwa Ibom Police: Arrest Of Support Group Members Not Political

The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has said the recent arrest of some political support group members in the state was not politically motivated.
The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State Command, CP Baba Mohammed, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the security situation in the state on Friday, October 2, 2026.
The police commissioner explained that the command had earlier received and approved a request from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to hold a political rally after confirming that there was no conflicting application at the time.
According to him, the situation changed when the command later received information that a support group of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was also planning a two-million-man march in the state.
He said intelligence available to the command indicated that some groups could take advantage of the situation to cause a crisis.
Mohammed said, “Initially, on the 9th of September, we received a letter from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which we approved because there was no pending application before us. Then, suddenly, on the 28th of this month, we received another letter in our office that the NDC support group was also planning to have a two-million-man march in the state.”
He added that support groups from different political parties had held a meeting after it became clear that their rallies were scheduled for the same date.
According to him, the groups were advised to reschedule their activities to prevent a possible clash and avoid any security threat in the state, after which they reached an agreement.
The command stressed that the arrests were neither in support of any political party nor targeted at any political party.
The police also urged members of the public to verify information obtained from social media before sharing it, stressing that the action was taken in the interest of maintaining peace and security in Akwa Ibom State.