The Cross River State Police Command has refuted allegations that its officers opened fire on students protesting in Calabar on Monday. In a statement, command spokesperson ASP Eitokpah Sunday Akata clarified that no protester was shot, contrary to circulating rumors.
The demonstration, led primarily by students from the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), was sparked by perceived neglect of accident victims from their institution. Over the weekend, a fatal crash on the Odukpani axis of the Calabar-Itu highway claimed four students’ lives when a truck collided head-on with their vehicle. Six survivors were rushed to hospitals, including the General Hospital Calabar, by police and FRSC personnel.
The students alleged that the injured had received neither adequate food nor medical care since admission. This frustration boiled over on Monday morning as protesters stormed the General Hospital on Mary Slessor Road, vandalizing property including a hospital bus, smashing windows, and tearing down the facility’s signpost. Witnesses reported that some demonstrators, many clad in black, exchanged fire with police, leading to claims of two student deaths.
Akata dismissed these reports as false. “None of the protesters was gunned down. Smoke grenades were deployed into the air to control the increasingly volatile crowd,” he told journalists. He emphasized that only non-lethal measures were used to prevent the situation from escalating.
In response to the unrest, armed personnel from the 13 Brigade of the Nigerian Army were deployed to secure their barracks near the hospital, while mobile police units patrolled adjacent neighborhoods to prevent the protest from being hijacked.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, also issued a rebuttal against what he termed “misleading social media claims” that injured students were abandoned. He described such assertions as inflammatory and baseless. “Emergency response was swift and coordinated. Upon arrival, all available medical staff were mobilized, and additional healthcare professionals were contacted to reinforce capacity,” Ayuk stated. He noted that due to the severity of some injuries, FRSC officers made the professional decision to transfer critically wounded victims to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), a tertiary center better equipped for complex trauma cases.
Ayuk stressed that all fatalities from the accident occurred at the scene, not due to delayed care at any health facility. “Contrary to social media commentary, life-saving interventions take priority over media engagement in such emergencies. Relevant authorities were fully engaged on the ground,” he added.
The police and state government continue to call for calm while investigations proceed.