On September 17, 2025, as Vice Admiral (retd.) Ibok-Ete Ibas prepared to conclude his six-month tenure as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, a significant protest broke out at the Rivers State Government House in Port Harcourt. This demonstration involved security personnel assigned to the Government House, including members of the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Police Force, and other paramilitary units attached to Ibas’s administration. The protest occurred on the eve of the official handover of power back to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy Prof. Ngozi Odu, and the reinstated 32-member Rivers State House of Assembly, scheduled for September 18, 2025.The protest was triggered by a combination of grievances, primarily centered on unpaid allowances and allegations of asset mismanagement by Ibas.
A viral video circulating on social media platforms, particularly X, captured the intensity of the demonstration, showing security personnel in uniforms and some in plain clothes blocking access to the Government House, chanting slogans like “We are tired!” and “Pay us our money!” The protest disrupted the final administrative activities of Ibas’s tenure, drawing significant attention to the tensions surrounding the end of the state of emergency.
