By Oscar Okhifo
A lecturer at Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Dr. Matthew Uwuigbe, has been found dead in a hotel room in Ekpoma, Edo State, with three persons arrested by the police in connection with the incident.
Uwuigbe was reportedly at the hotel in the Mosco area of Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area, on Sunday when he allegedly slumped and died.
The lecturer was said to have lodged at the hotel with a 21-year-old commercial sex worker, identified as Angela Defa Jacob, shortly before his death.
According to the police, Uwuigbe later asked the woman to leave the room to purchase water for him.
On her return, she reportedly found the lecturer lying dead in the room and alerted the police.
The Edo State Police Command confirmed the incident on Tuesday, saying three persons had been arrested in connection with the case.
The command’s spokesperson, Eno Ikoedem, said the incident was reported to the police on October 5, 2026.
She said, “On October 5, 2026, at about 8 pm, 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 hotel owner, manager and the sex worker were in police custody while investigation continued.
She added that the lecturer’s remains had been deposited at the Oriaifo Memorial Hospital mortuary.
The police have not disclosed the cause of death, as investigations continue to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Meanwhile, the university confirmed that Uwuigbe was a member of its academic staff but said the incident occurred outside the institution.
The university’s Public Relations Officer, Otunba Mike Ade Aladenika, said the circumstances surrounding the lecturer’s death were a private matter.
“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.
Cases involving sexual relationships in and around higher institutions have continued to generate public concern, particularly over alleged inappropriate relationships between lecturers and students.
There have also been calls for legislation to criminalise illicit sexual relationships between lecturers and students, a proposal the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has opposed.
However, there was no indication as of press time that the woman involved in the AAU incident was a student of the institution.
With three persons in custody, the police are expected to establish the circumstances surrounding Uwuigbe’s death and determine whether any criminal offence was committed.