No fewer than 52 students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo State have been remanded in a correctional facility following a midnight crackdown by security operatives 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 newsmen 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.
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 newsmen 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 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.
SOURCE: Sahara Reporters
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