Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has condemned the imprisonment of 52 students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, in Edo State, who were arrested in connection with a protest against rising kidnappings in the area, and has demanded their immediate and unconditional release.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the organisation described the “remand of the students at the Ubiaja Correctional Centre on charges of malicious damage and robbery” as absurd, unjust, and morally bankrupt, accusing the Edo State government and operatives of the Nigeria Police Force of turning state violence on victims while kidnappers continue to operate freely.
According to eyewitness accounts and media reports, security forces carried out a midnight raid on student hostels in the early hours of Sunday, at about 3 a.m. Armed officers forced their way into rooms, dragged students from their beds, and arrested them in a sweeping operation that threw the campus into fear. Some of those detained were reportedly unconnected to the protest and were taken away in their sleepwear.
The protest itself, which took place on Saturday, January 10, 2026, was a desperate cry against the wave of abductions plaguing Ekpoma, the headquarters of Esan West Local Government Area. Students, alongside community members, had marched to demand basic security after repeated abductions near hostels and along school routes. Just a day after the protest, another kidnapping was caught on CCTV, reinforcing claims that the area had become very unsafe.
CAPPA said the state’s response exposed a warped sense of judgment.
“Instead of hunting kidnappers who operate openly and violently, the government is punishing innocent victims who simply asked for protection,” the statement said.
The organisation said the arrests reflect a deeper failure of governance in Edo State and across Nigeria, where insecurity grows while governments criminalise those who speak out.
CAPPA warned that students now live under siege.
“Journeys to school are becoming more and more dangerous. Hostels have become targets. Learning is collapsing under fear and trauma. Yet leaders hide behind privilege while ordinary people pay the price,” the statement noted.
According to Zikora Ibeh, Assistant Executive Director of CAPPA, peaceful protest remains a constitutionally guaranteed right in Nigeria and a basic tool for holding power to account.
“These students are victims twice over. First by kidnappers and organised gangs, then by the state,” Ibeh said. “Young people now risk abduction on their way to school and violence where they live. This situation damages learning and scars mental health. Female students face even higher risks, including sexual violence. The cost is long-term and devastating,” she added.
CAPPA said the crackdown fits a national pattern in which protests against government failure are increasingly criminalised, and security forces are deployed to crush legitimate grievances.
“In a country awash with wealth and huge resources, public security has collapsed into an economy of violence, complete with scouts, criminal gangs, informants, negotiators, and ransom brokers who calculate deadlines on human life, all because governments have lost any real sense of responsibility toward the people,” the organisation said.
“Families are losing their savings, selling their futures, and living with constant pain just to survive. Fear now controls how people move, where they go to school, and how they work. Because the government has failed to protect them, many communities have been forced into self-defence, setting up local patrols and informal security arrangements that often expose them to further danger and retaliation. In some cases, communities have had no choice but to submit to the rule of violent groups who govern through extortion and fear.”
CAPPA expressed solidarity with the detained students and all Nigerians living under insecurity. It called on the Edo State government and security agencies to drop all charges and release the 52 students immediately.
The organisation also demanded an independent investigation into the arrests and accountability for abuses recorded during the raid. It urged the Edo State government to stop criminalising protest and start governing by investing in real security oversight, engaging students and communities honestly, and addressing root causes such as poverty, unemployment, and social neglect.
“Jailing frightened students will not stop kidnappings,” CAPPA said. “Only political will and genuine commitment to public safety will.”