The Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has said the demonstration that happened in Ekpoma, the headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area on Saturday was not a protest against insecurity but rather an anti-government riot sponsored by Nigerians abroad.
On January 10, 2026, Residents, including youths and students took to the streets to protest repeated abductions and killings in the area, following the kidnapping of two medical doctors, Tahir Abu Emhoye and Abu Ibrahim Babatunde.
According to reports, the protest began peacefully in the morning but later escalated after residents heard that one of the abducted victims had been killed.
After the protest there were reports that the demonstrators were arrested in a midnight raid and charged with malicious damage and armed robbery, despite claims they were peacefully protesting kidnapping and killings in the area.
On Monday, A Benin High Court ordered the students to be remanded at Ubiaja Correctional Centre over the protest, a situation that has continued to draw condemnations.
Responding to condemnations, the State Government on Tuesday said there no was protest but rather a riot aimed at destabilizing the government and riot sponsored by a Nigerian resident in Russia and other locations overseas.”
In a statement signed by Patrick Ebojele, the Chief Press Secretary to Monday Okpebholo, security operative have already identified the suspected masterminds, who were said to have contacted several individuals in Ekpoma, and coordinated the riots across Ekpoma, Auchi, Irrua, and even the Government House, Benin City, with funding from the diaspora.
“The government firmly refuted claims that those arrested and facing prosecution in connection with the violence were students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, or that their arrests were made inside student hostels,” the statement read in part.
It stressed that AAU is currently closed, with all students having vacated the hostels long before the incident.
Those arrested, the statement said, were intercepted while allegedly heading to vandalise property on campus, while others were faces identified on the viral video of the incident showing various acts of arson carried out.
According to the Edo government, most of the arrests were based on clear evidence, including a video showing acts of violence and destruction.
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