By JKNewsMedia Reporter
CRITICISM HAS followed the imprisonment of 52 students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU) Ekpoma.
A human rights organisation, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), has called for the immediate release of the 52 students who were arrested following a protest against rising kidnappings in the area.
In a statement issued Tuesday, CAPPA described the students’ detention at Ubiaja Correctional Centre on charges of robbery and malicious damage as “absurd, unjust, and morally bankrupt.”
It also accused the Edo State government and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) of turning violence on victims while kidnappers continue to operate freely.
Eyewitnesses and media reports cited by CAPPA said security forces conducted a midnight raid on student hostels early Sunday, January 12, forcing their way into rooms and dragging students from their beds.
Some of those arrested, the statement noted, were not connected to the protest and were taken in their sleepwear.
The protest itself took place the previous day, Saturday, January 10, in response to repeated kidnappings in Ekpoma, the headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area.
CAPPA said students joined community members to demand improved security after abductions near hostels and along school routes, noting that a kidnapping captured on CCTV a day after the protest reinforced the area’s insecurity.
“Instead of pursuing kidnappers who operate openly and violently, the government is punishing innocent victims who simply asked for protection,” CAPPA said, adding that the arrests reflect a deeper failure of governance in Edo State and across Nigeria, where insecurity is rising while citizens speaking out are criminalised.
Zikora Ibeh, CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, highlighted the human cost of the arrests, noting: “These students are victims twice over, first by kidnappers and organised gangs, then by the state,” she said.
“Journeys to school are becoming increasingly dangerous. Hostels have become targets. Learning is collapsing under fear and trauma. Female students face even higher risks, including sexual violence. The cost is long term and devastating.”
The group also framed the arrests as part of a broader national pattern, in which protests against government failures are increasingly met with force as CAPPA described Nigeria’s public security situation as “a collapse into an economy of violence,” where kidnappers, criminal gangs, and ransom brokers operate with impunity while communities pay the price.
Some communities, the statement noted, have resorted to self-defense patrols or, in extreme cases, submitted to control by violent groups, exposing them to further danger and extortion.
CAPPA says it will continue to express solidarity with the AAU students as it called on Edo State authorities to drop all charges, release the students immediately, and launch an independent investigation into the hostel raid.
It also urged the government to stop criminalising protests and to address insecurity by engaging with students and local communities.
“Jailing frightened students will not stop kidnappings,” CAPPA said. “Only political will and a genuine commitment to public safety will.”
