The Edo State Police Command has arrested three people following the death of a senior lecturer of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Dr Matthew Uwuigbe, in a hotel in the town.
Uwuigbe was found dead in a hotel room in the Mosco area of Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area, on Sunday, October 5, 2026, shortly after he reportedly checked into the facility with a 21-year-old woman identified as Angela Defa Jacob.
According to the police, Uwuigbe had allegedly engaged Jacob’s services before asking her to leave the room to purchase water. The woman reportedly returned to find the lecturer lying motionless on the bed.
The incident was reported to the police at about 8pm, prompting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the lecturer’s death.
The spokesperson for the Edo State Police Command, Eno Ikoedem, confirmed the incident and said the hotel owner, manager and Jacob were taken into custody.
“On October 5, 2026, at about 8pm, the command received a report that Matthew Uwuigbe, a lecturer at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, had lodged at a hotel in Ekpoma and engaged the services of a 21-year-old sex worker, Angela Defa Jacob.
“He subsequently sent the woman to purchase water for him, and upon her return, she found him lying dead in the room,” Ikoedem said.
The police spokesperson said the three suspects remained in custody as detectives continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding Uwuigbe’s death.
She added that the lecturer’s remains had been deposited at the Oriaifo Memorial Hospital mortuary.
Meanwhile, the university confirmed Uwuigbe’s employment but distanced the institution from the incident, stressing that the death occurred outside the university premises.
The university’s Public Relations Officer, Otunba Mike Ade Aladenika, said the circumstances surrounding the incident were unrelated to the institution’s activities.
“We are not denying that he is our staff, but whatever he did and what happened, it is his private life.
“The girl in question is not our student, and everything happened outside our institution,” he said.
The police have not disclosed the cause of death, while investigation into the incident is ongoing.
