Condemnation rose yesterday following the arrest, arraignment and remand of 52 students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, over their alleged participation in a protest against kidnapping and insecurity within the university community.
The students were reportedly arrested after police officers, allegedly acting on the orders of Governor Monday Okpebholo, carried out late-night raids on hostels where the students were residing. The arrests were linked to a protest held last Saturday against rising cases of kidnapping and worsening security in the state.
Students who spoke to the media claimed the arrests were part of a coordinated operation, alleging that police officers raided several hostels across Ekpoma in the middle of the night and indiscriminately took students into custody.
Some of the affected students said those arrested were not even present at the protest venue, but were picked up from their residences. Describing the operation as a midnight raid that caused panic among students and residents of the university town, one student said: “They came to our hostels at night and started arresting students.
“Many of those arrested were sleeping in their rooms and were not even on the streets when the protest took place.” On Monday, the students were arraigned before a court in Edo State, where the police applied for their remand in custody for 14 days.
Condemning the action, the civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), urged Governor Monday Okpebholo to immediately release the students.
The group said the forceful arrest of the students under the claim that they participated in an anti-kidnapping and anti-insecurity protest in Ekpoma, Edo State, had no justification under Nigerian law.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, HURIWA condemned the use of force and the arrests under what it described as false pretences, stressing that detaining the students without credible evidence was unconstitutional.
The rights group also described the charges of robbery and damage to public property as baseless and demanded the students’ immediate release. It reaffirmed the right to peaceful assembly as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and accused the authorities of violating that right.
The group also appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene and direct the release of the students. Meanwhile, Nigerian lawyer Joseph Opute and activist Precious Oruche criticised the government and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) over the remand of the students.
The 52 students were remanded at the Ubiaja Correctional Centre. The presiding judge, William Aziegbemi, who delivered the ruling on Monday, said he lacked jurisdiction and directed defence counsel to file bail applications at the Ubiaja High Court. He adjourned the case to February 26, 2026, for hearing.
The students were arraigned through an ex parte motion filed by police counsel, P. O. Odion. Some defence lawyers described the charges of malicious damage and armed robbery against the protesters as bogus.
Speaking with The Guardian, Opute said: “The arrest of the protesters is a symptom of the growing clampdown on dissent by the current government. The government does not understand democracy. The characteristics of a democracy include a vibrant press and the right to dissent.
“If those students were protesting to promote President Bola Tinubu’s re-election, they would have been protected. The Police Act provides that the Nigeria Police must protect protesters once they are notified, but this provision is not being obeyed.
“It is a goodbye to Chapter Four of the Nigerian Constitution under the Tinubu administration. The government, working with security agencies and aided by the judiciary, has denied Nigerians their fundamental rights.
“The only option left for the students is to return to the courts to seek bail. There is nowhere in a decent society where protest is criminalised. Not every judge supports the clampdown on dissent. There are still judges who uphold the rule of law.” Oruche also condemned the arrests, saying: “It is shameful that 52 students were arrested. It shows the decay in the system.
“The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, is not prosecuting kidnappers terrorising the state but students protesting insecurity. NANS has been compromised. They have threatened me with death, but I am not deterred.”
Meanwhile, the National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Samson Adeyemi, condemned the arrests, saying Nigerian students deserve protection, not suppression.
Adeyemi described the development as “ridiculous, unacceptable and deeply disturbing”, adding that students who exercised their constitutional right to peaceful protest were now being subjected to psychological trauma, intimidation and detention.
