According to accounts by some of the affected students, those arrested were not apprehended at the protest venue but were picked up from where they resided.
No fewer than 52 students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, have been remanded in a correctional facility following a midnight crackdown by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force on hostels across Ekpoma in the Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.
The students were arrested in the late hours of the night from their various hostels in Ekpoma and subsequently charged to court for participating in a protest held last Saturday against rising cases of kidnapping and worsening insecurity in the state.
Students who spoke to SaharaReporters said the arrests were carried out in a coordinated operation, with police officers storming different hostels around Ekpoma in the middle of the night and picking up students indiscriminately.
According to accounts by some of the affected students, those arrested were not apprehended at the protest venue but were picked up from where they resided.
They described the operation as a midnight raid that caused panic among students and residents of the university town.
“They came to our hostels at night and started arresting students,” one of the students told SaharaReporters from the court premises.
“Many of those arrested were sleeping in their rooms and were not even on the streets when the protest took place.”
On Monday, the arrested students were arraigned before a court in Edo State, where the police filed an application seeking their remand in custody.
The students who were present in court told SaharaReporters that the police are seeking an order to remand the 52 students for a period of 14 days.
A copy of the motion ex parte remand proceedings obtained by SaharaReporters shows that the application was brought pursuant to Sections 293(1) and 296(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Edo State, 2016, and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court.
The motion reads in part: “BROUGHT PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 293 (1) AND 296 (1) OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE LAW OF EDO STATE. 2016 AND UNDER THE INHERENT JURISDICTION OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT TO ADMINISTER JUSTICE.”
The police, as complainant/applicant, requested the court to grant an order remanding the suspects pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Edo State Ministry of Justice.
The application further stated: “TAKE NOTICE that this Honourable Court will be moved on the ……….day of 2026 at the hour of 9 Block in the forenoon or so soon thereafter as counsel may be heard on behalf of the Complainant/Applicant, praying this Honourable Court for the following orders:
“AN ORDER remanding the Suspects in Correctional Custodial Centre, Benin City for an initial period of 14 days, pending the rendering of Legal Advice on the case from the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Minstry of Justice, Edo State.”
The grounds upon which the application was brought, according to the motion, are as contained in the supporting affidavit and the Request Form for Remand Proceedings (Form 8).
The police also urged the court to grant “such further or other order(s) as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstance of this case.”
The document was dated 12th January, 2026.
Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that barely a day after residents of Ekpoma, the headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, staged a protest over the rising cases of kidnapping, gunmen struck again, abducting a man in a daring operation that was captured on CCTV.
A viral video shows the moment the victim drove into his compound unaware that danger lurked nearby.
Shortly after he parked his vehicle, armed men emerged from a bush behind the house, swooped on him and whisked him away to an unknown location.
The abduction occurred just a day after a mass protest rocked the town, with residents taking to the streets to demand urgent action from security agencies and the Edo State Government over the worsening insecurity.
In their anger, the protesters pulled down campaign billboards already mounted across the town ahead of the 2027 general elections, accusing politicians of prioritising early campaigns over the safety and welfare of residents.