_Standard_ Daily_ Press_
The recent chilling events at Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, have sent a shockwave through the academic community. The arrest and subsequent detention of over a hundred students—including the high-profile case of Lifted Oyinbo Edubamo and Igoh Ayano Christopher—marks a dangerous departure from the core mandate of university management.
When the “Citadel of Learning” begins to resemble a “Citadel of Intimidation,” the very foundation of our intellectual future is at risk.
The Mandate: In Loco Parentis, Not In Loco Custodia
Traditionally, university management operates under the principle of in loco parentis—acting in the place of a parent. This role implies a duty of care, a responsibility to protect, and a mandate to nurture critical thinking. However, when a Deputy Vice-Chancellor’s office becomes the starting point for a police sweep, and when serving a petition is treated as a felony, the management has swapped its parental robes for a jailer’s uniform.
A university is supposed to be a marketplace of ideas. If students cannot disagree with management or seek administrative redress through formal petitions without fear of the “Black Maria,” then the university has failed in its primary duty to produce citizens capable of navigating a democracy.
The Legal and Moral Failure
The ongoing Fundamental Rights suit in the Ekpoma Judicial Division highlights a systemic breach of Sections 34, 35, and 36 of the Nigerian Constitution. But beyond the legal technicalities lies a deeper moral failure.
University managers are not just administrators; they are the custodians of the next generation’s dignity. To allow—or worse, to invite—the police to detain students beyond the 48-hour constitutional limit is to endorse lawlessness.
By using the police as a private security wing to settle administrative disputes, the AAU management is teaching its students a dangerous lesson: that power, not dialogue, is the ultimate arbiter.
Silence is Not Compliance
Management must realize that “crushing” student activism does not lead to campus peace; it leads to resentment and a breakdown of the social contract between the institution and the student body. The remand of over a hundred students is not a “security success”—it is a monumental administrative failure.
The _Standard_ Daily_ Press_ calls on the Governing Council of Ambrose Alli University and the Edo State Ministry of Education to:
Cease the Criminalization of Dissent: Serving a petition is a civic duty, not a crime.
Respect the Rule of Law:
University disputes should be settled through internal disciplinary committees and dialogue, not through arbitrary police detention.
Ensure Immediate Accountability: Those who authorized the use of state force to suppress lawful student engagement must be held to account.
The Verdict
Ambrose Alli University belongs to the people of Edo State and the students who seek knowledge within its walls. It is not the private fiefdom of any administrator.
The management’s responsibility is to protect student rights, not to participate in their erosion.
The court will eventually decide on the N20 million damages being sought, but the court of public opinion has already reached a verdict: It is time to let the students breathe, let them speak, and let them learn in an environment free from the shadow of the cell block.
