The Edo State High Court, Criminal Court 2, has ordered that 52 youths involved in the Ekpoma protest be remanded at the Ubiaja Correctional Centre.
The protesting youths who were reportedly mainly students of the Ambrose Alli University had taken to the streets on Saturday January 10 to protest the increasing spate of k!dnapping and insecurity in their community located in Edo Central region.
During the protest, several properties including the palace of the monarch in the community were destroyed. Videos of the protesting youths made the rounds on social media.
The police later stepped, alleged that the protest was hijacked by some hoodlums and made some arrests.
“Regrettably, the protest was hijacked, and all the rules of peaceful protest were ignored, which led to incidents, including malicious damages, looting of property, vandalisation of shops, as well as a military personnel discharging firearms at a protester,” the statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eno Ikoedem, partly read.