On Monday, security personnel prevented journalists from entering the court to cover the arraignment of 52 suspected anti-kidnapping protesters arrested over the weekend in Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of ​​Edo State.
The suspects, who are mainly students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, were taken to Benin City Criminal Court II in a Black Maria for arraignment.
Security personnel said there was an order in place that only lawyers should be allowed into the courtroom.
Newslodge reports that the presiding judge, Justice William Aziegbemi, however, remanded the suspects to the Ubiaja Correctional Centre.
He remanded the suspects after hearing an ex parte motion filed in court by PO Odion, a legal officer with the legal/prosecution section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), at the Benin City Police Headquarters.
The judge, who said he lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, however asked the defendants’ lawyers to submit bail applications to the Ubiaja High Court.
He adjourned the case to February 26, 2026 for hearing.
Meanwhile, tears flowed freely as parents struggled to give water, drinks, food and money to their children as they were driven to the Black Mary after the session, on the way to Ubiaja.
Some of the parents could not control their emotions when their children were taken to the Ubiaja Correctional Center in preventive detention.
The suspects, who pleaded not guilty, alleged that they were abducted from their residences by security agencies overnight, while some said they were abducted in the early hours of Sunday morning from their residences.
Several of them alleged that they were sleeping inside their shelters when they were detained around 3 in the morning.
They said that after the arrest, they were immediately transferred to Benin City, the headquarters of the Nigerian Police State Command.
A man who simply identified himself as Abdulsalam said his two sons, who never participated in the protest, were arrested by police and taken to court.
Another father said his son was taking his clothes to a dry cleaner when he was arrested.
It was learned that the suspects were arrested at various locations in Ekpoma.
Some lawyers also expressed surprise that false charges of malicious damage and armed robbery were brought against the suspects.
One of the lawyers, Barr. Wisdom Isaac, opined that no one filed any complaint against the suspects.