- Safiu Kehinde
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has broken silence over the arrest of 52 students of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, over their alleged involvement in anti-kidnapping protest.
NPO Reported that a joint security task force spearheaded by the Edo State Police Command had on Monday stormed the student community, whisking away the students who the command claimed to have been identified as some of those actively engaged in the protest which was hijacked by looters.
The students’ arrest had since sparked mixed reactions from members of the public.
Reacting to the public outcry, Okpebholo, in his address at an event on Tuesday, defended the arrest of the students.
He recalled the kidnap incident which triggered the protest, alleging that the appearance of the kidnappers, as captured in a CCTV footage, does not appear like the herdsmen often accused of kidnap incidents.
The CCTV clip of the incident which occurred on Sunday showed moment three armed and masked gunmen trooped out of the bush and ran towards the victim who had just drove into his compound.
The suspected kidnappers ordered him out of the car at gun point and led him into the bush with them.
Okpebholo claimed that the dressing of the kidnappers is not the same as that of the herdsmen thereby raising suspicion that kidnappers might be insiders with some of the arrested protesters being their informants.
The governor vowed to go after the other protesters in the same manner they are going after the kidnappers.
“Somebody came out from a car; entered his house and you kidnapped him. You did not even ask for ransom. You did not ask for anything.
“The people that kidnapped this guy marked their face. That is not the traditional way of Fulanis.
“The next day, they came up with sentiments, protests, looting. This is not acceptable. We must make sure that we bring these people to book.
“We must go after them. The way we are going after the kidnappers, the same way we will go after them because we don’t even know whether they are the ones aiding them.
“We don’t even know whether they are the ones giving them information.” He said.