Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has approved the release of persons arrested over the protests in Ekpoma.
The first set of seven suspects was released. According to the Edo state Commissioner for Education, Paddy Iyamu, who was on the ground to facilitate the release, confirmed that only verified students are to be released.
During his meeting with the President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, on Tuesday, Okpebholo said the unrest in the area was not organised by students of the school.
The governor described the protests that happened on Saturday as a criminal act carried out by non-students hiding around the institution to foment trouble and extort law-abiding students.
“I have met with the SUG President of AAU Ekpoma. We had a very lengthy discussion, and as I have consistently said, this was not a students’ protest. These are people who are no longer students but are just hanging around the school, causing trouble and extorting students. We will put an end to that,” the governor said.
He, however, assured the SUG leadership that any genuine students who may have been arrested in the course of restoring order would be identified and released without delay.
“For students who were probably arrested, we will look into it and get them released to the SUG President. That is a promise I made, and I will do it as quickly as possible. The protest was not theirs. In fact, it was not a protest at all; it was an avenue to loot,” he added.
The governor also dismissed claims of kidnapping linked to the incident, describing them as false and stage-managed to mislead the public and create ethnic tension.
“The kidnapping they are talking about is fake. It was stage-managed. They were arranging to kidnap and release themselves. They even went as far as killing someone, which is the most painful part,” he said.
Governor Okpebholo condemned the burning of markets and destruction of property in Ekpoma, warning that anyone, regardless of political affiliation, found sponsoring or using hoodlums to destabilise Edo communities would be brought to justice.
“I don’t care whether you are a politician or not. If you are using people to destroy our land and economy, we will go after you. We know ourselves, and we will bring those responsible to book to ensure justice for our people,” he added.
