The Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of 52 students, allegedly arrested on the order of the state government, for protesting against rising spate of kidnapping.
The party, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Dan Osa-Ogbegie, and made available to newsmen on Monday in Benin City, said the arrested suspects were mainly students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma.
He said the continued detention of the suspects was oppressive, unlawful, and a blatant abuse of power.
He warned that Edo State is fast acquiring a reputation for punishing victims while protecting perpetrators.
“The party also condemned reports that a court had remanded 52 students for protesting insecurity, as widely reported, describing the development as a dangerous descent into repression.
“It warned that a government that criminalises protest while kidnappers operate with impunity has lost all moral authority to govern.
“The PDP declared that it would not be silent while Edo citizens were kidnapped, brutalised, and silenced under APC rule. It stressed that security was the first duty of government and that any administration that failed in this duty and responded with force against its own people would be judged harshly by history.
“The party called on the Edo State Government and the Edo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force to immediately reverse what it described as a shameful and dangerous course by releasing all detainees, securing Ekpoma, arresting the kidnappers, and restoring public confidence through lawful, transparent, and people-centred action,” he said.
