A senior lecturer at Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Dr. Matthew Uwuigbe, has died in a hotel room in Ekpoma, Edo State. Police have arrested three people in connection with the incident. The Edo State Police Command spokesperson, Eno Ikoedem, confirmed the arrests and said the investigation is continuing.
Some headlines link his death to a sexual encounter. The police have not announced a cause of death, and they have not said that the encounter caused it. Sudden deaths can have many medical causes, and only the investigation, including a medical examination, can establish what happened.
What the police have said (the confirmed facts)
According to the police, the command received a report at about 8 p.m. on October 5, 2026, that the lecturer had lodged at a hotel in the Mosco area of Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area, and engaged the services of a 21-year-old woman whom the police described as a sex worker. The police said he later sent her out to buy water, and that when she returned she found him lying lifeless in the room and raised the alarm.
The three people in custody are the woman, the hotel owner and the hotel manager. The police said the arrests were part of efforts to establish what happened before his death. The reports do not say why the hotel owner and manager were detained, and they have not been accused of any offence. His remains were deposited at the mortuary of Oriaifo Memorial Hospital.
What the university has said (the institution’s position)
AAU’s Public Relations Officer, Otunba Mike Ade Aladenika, confirmed that Uwuigbe was a member of staff. He stressed that the incident happened outside the university premises, and said the woman involved was not a student. Uwuigbe was a lecturer in the Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science. We found no statement from his family.
Similar cases in recent years (past cases and what is known)
Hotel deaths have been reported elsewhere in Nigeria. In July 2025, Olabode Abimbola-Ibikunle, a lecturer at Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, Kogi State, died at a hotel while with a 22-year-old student. Police said the student alerted hotel staff after he collapsed, that he was taken to hospital and pronounced dead, and that an autopsy was being done.
In July 2026, police in Jigawa State arrested a 20-year-old woman after a 60-year-old man died at a hotel in Dutse. Police said he developed severe breathing difficulties shortly after ordering a meal, and detectives recovered a substance suspected to be a sexual enhancement supplement. The woman was held to assist the investigation. In November 2025, a woman was found dead at a hotel in Ore, Ondo State, after spending the night with a man who left. Police said an autopsy would determine the cause.
The reports we found do not give the autopsy results for these cases, so we cannot say how they ended. In the Edo case, nothing like the Jigawa supplement has been reported.
Why the arrests do not mean guilt (what the police are doing)
When a person dies suddenly in a hotel, police commonly detain those who were with him and those who run the premises, so they can take statements and secure evidence. That is routine, but it can look like an accusation. The woman reportedly raised the alarm herself, and the police said the arrests were to establish what happened. None of the three has been charged with a crime, and each is presumed innocent.
Stigma, grief and a rush to judgement (effects)
The first effect is on Uwuigbe’s family, who are grieving and now face public discussion of how he died. His colleagues and students at AAU also lost a member of their community. The woman, who is only 21, faces the risk of stigma and danger, even though she may have done nothing wrong. Sensational headlines add to that harm.
For the country, such cases show how quickly social media and news outlets can reduce a person’s death to a scandal, before any facts are known. They also raise a question about what hotels must do when a guest is in distress.
Getting to the facts and protecting everyone involved (possible solutions)
The police should arrange a proper medical examination and release the cause of death as soon as it is confirmed, so that rumours do not fill the gap. They should also treat the woman fairly, as a witness who alerted others, unless evidence shows otherwise. If the hotel owner and manager are not suspected of any offence, they should be released promptly.
Hotels can train staff to respond quickly to an emergency, keep contact details for nearby clinics, and cooperate with investigators. Men and women alike should have regular medical check-ups, and should avoid unregulated supplements, as the Jigawa case reminds us. The media can help by sticking to confirmed facts and not publishing identifying details that could put a person at risk.
Let the facts speak before the headlines do (our view)
We offer our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Dr. Uwuigbe, and to the AAU community. A death should be treated with respect, not as entertainment.
We have chosen not to name the young woman. The police named her, but she has not been charged, and she has already been exposed to harm. Everything in this case is still unknown: the cause of death, the role of any person in the room, and the reason for each arrest. We hope the police will complete the investigation quickly and share the results, and that the public will wait for them before passing judgement. Dignity should apply to the dead and to the living.
Published by Ejoh Caleb
