The Edo State Government Tuesday, dismissed media reports surrounding the recent incidents in Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area, describing them as part of a coordinated attempt to misinform the public and destabilise the state.
A statement signed by Patrick Ebojele, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpebholo, clarified that the incident was not a protest but a “well-organised riot sponsored by a Nigerian resident in Russia and other locations overseas.”
Security agencies, according to the state, have already identified the suspected masterminds, who were said to have contacted several individuals in Ekpoma, and coordinated the riots across Ekpoma, Auchi, Irrua, and even the Government House, Benin City, with funding from the diaspora.
“The government firmly refuted claims that those arrested and facing prosecution in connection with the violence were students of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, or that their arrests were made inside student hostels,” the statement read in part.
It stressed that AAU is currently closed, with all students having vacated the hostels long before the incident.