Natasha Condemns Arrest of 52 Students, Demands Release

Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has called for the immediate release of 52 students from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, who were arrested and remanded in a correctional facility.

In a statement on Tuesday, the senator described the arrests as a dangerous suppression of youth voices and democratic expression. She stressed that protests and civic engagement should not be criminalized in a democracy.

“Dialogue, not detention, is the pathway to peace and progress. Our youths must not be criminalised for speaking up,” she stated.

Akpoti-Uduaghan urged the Edo State government to focus on addressing worsening insecurity including kidnappings rather than suppressing peaceful dissent.

Her position aligns with the National Association of Nigerian Students, which also condemned the detention as “ridiculous and unacceptable.”

Police authorities had stated that the protest, originally against insecurity, was hijacked by hoodlums who attacked traders and vandalized a traditional ruler’s palace.

The senator reaffirmed her solidarity with the detained students and their families, emphasizing that peaceful protest is a constitutional right essential for accountability.