Posted by By JOE EFFIONG, Uyo on
Apparently bored stiff by the seeming lack of crimes to fight, the joint military task force set up by Akwa Ibom state government has resorted to stripping girls who wear trousers naked in the public.
Apparently bored stiff by the seeming lack of crimes to fight, the joint military task force set up by Akwa Ibom state government has resorted to stripping girls who wear trousers naked in the public.
The group which moves about in the new Hilux Pick-up vans recently acquired for them by the Akwa Ibom state government for crime fighting, have stormed market places, bus stops and other public places in different local government areas of the state, harassing women in trousers whom they accuse of indecent dressing.
The Saturday Sun learnt that the most affected are students of the University of Uyo, who have become the target of the task force made up of soldiers, navy, police and civil defence corps personnel operating on the code 'Operation Obuma" meaning operation thunder.
The crisis, which led to a rampage by hundreds of male and female students of the University of Uyo on Wednesday, finally jolted the state government to denounce the activities of its task force.
The state commissioner of information and social reorientation, Mr Census Ekpu, told a crowded press conference, called to announce the programmes of the 20th anniversary of the state creation on Wednesday that 'government condemns in totality this harassment of ladies. We don't have any dress code for ladies in this state."
Ekpu however tried to absolve the unruly task force from the embarrassing development, explaining that information at the state's disposal pointed to the fact that ‘the miscreants and thugs' were the ones involved, not the task force.
'The state governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio has asked that a strong warning be given on this issue as genuine task force members would not indulge in such," Ekpu rationalized even as he could not explain why the supposed miscreants and thugs were moving about in the government vehicles.