At least 52 persons, including students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo State, have been remanded at the Ubiaja Correctional Centre following their arraignment on charges of malicious damage and armed robbery linked to a recent protest over insecurity in the area.
The suspects were arraigned on Monday before a Benin High Court presided over by Justice William Aziegbemi, who declined jurisdiction over the matter and directed defence counsel to approach the Ubiaja High Court for bail applications.
Justice Aziegbemi subsequently adjourned the case to February 26, 2026, for hearing.
The defendants were brought before the court via an ex parte motion filed by police counsel, P.O. Odion.
Moments after the ruling, emotional scenes played out in court as relatives of the suspects burst into tears, while the accused were herded into a Black Maria van and driven back to prison custody.
Some family members and lawyers described the charges as spurious and politically motivated, insisting that many of those arrested had no connection to the violence that erupted during the protest.
A man who identified himself as Abdulsalam, whose two sons were among those remanded, said his children did not participate in any protest.
“They were arrested for something they know nothing about,” he lamented.
Counsel to some of the defendants, Wisdom Isaac, described the charges of malicious damage and armed robbery as “bogus,” stressing that no formal complaints were made against the suspects.
Another lawyer, Ejemi Etinbowei, said the protest was not organised by students but by relatives of a kidnap victim whose body was discovered in a bush last Friday.
Several of the students told journalists that they were arrested in the early hours of the morning while asleep in their hostels.
They alleged that police operatives stormed their residences around 3am and whisked them away to Benin in a Black Maria for arraignment.
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One of the students, who requested anonymity, said: “Most of us were arrested around 3am while we were sleeping. I was not involved in any protest or looting.”
Ekpoma has been tense in recent days after a peaceful protest against rising insecurity turned violent.
Hoodlums reportedly hijacked the demonstration, attacking traders, blocking roads with burning tyres and vandalising property, incidents captured in viral videos circulating online.
Among the targets of the violence was the palace of the Onojie of Ekpoma, Zaiki Anthony Abumere II, an attack that drew condemnation from Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo.
It was gathered that the suspects were arrested from different locations across Ekpoma in the aftermath of the unrest, raising concerns among residents and rights advocates over what they describe as indiscriminate arrests following the protest.
