The security around the country home of a senator, Godswill Akpabio, has been beefed up, the police in Akwa Ibom state have said.

Mr Akpabio’s media aide, Anietie Ekong, had raised alarm on Tuesday night that the senator’s residence at Ukana Ikot Ntuen, Essien Udim, Akwa Ibom state, was under attack by unknown gunmen, and that the senator and his guests were holed up inside, where they were having political meeting.

The police in the state later dismissed Mr Ekong’s claim as “false”.

The police spokesperson, Odiko MacDon, told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday morning that what people thought was an attack on Mr Akpabio’s residence, was actually an attempted armed robbery operation at a filling station close to the senator’s house.

“The Commissioner of Police have been in touch with the senator who unreservedly expressed satisfaction at the way the situation was handled by the police,” the police said in a follow-up statement issued on Wednesday.

The statement, signed by Mr McDon, a deputy superintendent of police, added that security has been beefed up around the senator’s residence and its environs, while efforts were on to arrest the suspected robbers.

Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom, recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

His defection, seen as a major threat to Governor Udom Emmanuel’s re-election bid, has heightened political tension in the state.