Armed and masked policemen have dispersed a group of Democracy Day protesters with tear gas in Calabar.

The incident happened around the Rabbana Roundabout and Atekong Junction on Saturday.

The masked security operatives rode into the areas in vehicles belonging to Operation Akpakwu.

The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as ‘Ayade pay owed salaries and pension,’ ‘Ayade fix our roads,’ ‘Ayade change your style of governance,’ among others.

One of the protesters, Timothy Ushang, stated the ongoing protest peaceful when the security operatives tear-gassed them.

Another protester, Dominic Akan, said, “We don’t know why security operatives used tear gas on us during the peaceful protest. We are protesting against bad governance and things that have gone bad in the state.

“Our fathers and mothers have been owed pensions and gratuities for a long period of time, our roads are bad; these are some of the things that we need the governor to address urgently.” 

The spokesman for the police, ASP Igri Ewa, said the police command would not tolerate any unlawful gathering, protest or procession.

He said hoodlums could hijack the gatherings if not properly managed, hence the need for the police to provide adequate security to forestall any unforeseen incident.