Tension flared on Wednesday at the Brick House in Abuja when security operatives staged a protest as Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, Sole Administrator of Rivers State during the emergency period, attended an emergency meeting.

According to reports, the protest briefly disrupted the gathering. Heated exchanges broke out among the operatives, creating a scene of disorder before order was restored.

A source at the Government House who spoke with Vanguard said the protest started when protocol officials informed the security team that the Administrator was leaving for Abuja.

“The security men thought Vice Admiral Ibas was relocating back to Abuja,” the source, who asked not to be named, said.

In a viral video circulating on social media, the operatives were seen chanting and demanding their outstanding allowances.

The noise attracted the attention of a senior security officer within the facility, who came out to intervene.

“After persuasion, the protesting officers were told that the Administrator was only travelling for an emergency meeting in Abuja and would return,” the source added.

Normalcy was eventually restored, though the incident exposed discontent among the operatives as Ibas prepares to round off his six-month tenure as Sole Administrator on September 18.

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As of press time, the Rivers State Government had not issued an official statement on the matter.

However, it was gathered that management staff at the Brick House were fully aware of the protest.

Meanwhile, Ibas’ convoy was sighted at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, awaiting his return from the undisclosed meeting in Abuja.

The report did not immediately specify what prompted the protest, nor did it confirm whether the operatives had formal complaints regarding Ibas’s presence or the nature of the meeting.