removing a ribbon cable from a pcb board

I bought some Alps tact switches to replace the cheap factory ones on my MPC 2500, but the ribbon cable on the bottom is preventing me from removing my PCB board. I was able to remove the PCB from the MPC 1000 with no problems, it had a little plastic collar that you pulled out and then the ribbon would easily slide out. But on my 2500 I noticed the ribbon is harder to remove. I have read in previous posts that you can maneuver "tabs" somehow on both sides of the black plastic connector (see images below) and then the ribbon is easily released? I don't see any tabs, and i can't find any helpful posts/youtube videos to see how to it's done. Does anybody know the easiest way to remove the ribbon from this type of connector, and what tools I might need? Thanks in advance.