A picture went viral on social media  which showed pupils of Edgerly Memorial Girls Secondary School in Calabar being compelled by an agent of the Cross River State security outfit to pack refuse with bare hands has elicited negative reactions from residents of Calabar-South.

Governor Ben Ayade had in August set up the Homeland Security outfit as well as the Green Sherriff to help maintain order and restore the state to her status as the safest state in the country.

While the exact date of the incident could not be ascertained, a shop owner close to the school gate, Annie Ben, said it had become a daily affair seeing the security operatives ordering passers-by to clear refuse from the gutter with their bare hands.

Ben, who said it was not the first time pupils of the school had been asked by the security operatives to carry out the act explained that several residents of the area had always condemned the action.

“It is not the first time this kind of thing is happening. They have always hung around to identify any person who would drop any dirt on the road. They will immediately pounce on you and ask you to clear the dirt in the environment with your bare hands. This is an unhealthy punishment,” she lamented.