Release 52 students of Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma – Atiku to gov’t

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the administration of Presient Bola Ahmed Tinubu as highly intolerant and high handed for arresting 52 students of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State in the South South Nigeria.

The students were protesting insecurity pervading the State for so long, but got arrested by security operatives and they are currently in detention. Atiku demanded that they should be release with immediate effect.

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The students were reportedly protesting peacefully on Saturday when suspected hoodlums highjacked and began to attack traders, and set tyres on the road, thereby caused vehicular traffick.

Atiku in a post on his X [formerly twitter] on Tuesday, said, the arrest was an evidence of intolerance and the arrest breached the right to demonstration as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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He slammed the federal government for being too intolerant and said it was unacceptable that “the authorities’ response to students’ protest against insecurity in the Ekpoma area of Edo State is to arrest and detain dozens of students of the Ambrose Alli University,”

“The right to protest is not only enshrined in the Constitution but has also been validated by the courts. The primary responsibility of government is the security and welfare of the citizens,” he said.

“If the energy with which innocent students and citizens are arrested for raising concerns about insecurity were deployed to fighting terrorism and banditry, instead of negotiating with the criminals, our communities would be safer,” Atiku added.

He called for the “immediate and unconstitutional release of all those unjustifiably detained for asserting their legitimate rights to protest.”

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