The Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo State, has been thrown into mourning following the sudden death of Dr. Matthew Uwuigbe, a senior lecturer who reportedly passed away in a hotel room under mysterious circumstances.
Dr. Uwuigbe, who taught in the Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science, died on Monday, October 5, 2026, at a hotel located in the Mosco area of Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area.
His remains have since been evacuated by the police and deposited at the Oriaifo Memorial Hospital mortuary for preservation.
The Edo State Police Command has launched a full-scale investigation into the incident, according to its spokesperson, ASP Eno Ikoedem, confirmed the tragic incident.
She revealed that the hotel owner, the manager, and the 21-year-old woman involved—identified as Angela Defa Jacob—have all been arrested and detained for questioning.
She also stated that the command received a report at about 8:00 p.m. on Monday stating that the lecturer had lodged at the hotel and engaged the services of the commercial sex worker.
”The lecturer later asked the woman to go out and purchase water for him,” according to ASP Ikoedem, who noted that “The woman returned to the room and discovered Uwuigbe lying lifeless, prompting the report to the police.”
She added that the arrests were crucial steps to establish the exact sequence of events leading up to his death.
In the meantime, the University management has swiftly distanced itself from the tragic incident, emphasizing that the event occurred entirely outside the campus and bore no relation to official institutional activities.
Speaking on the development, the AAU spokesperson, Otunba Aladenika, confirmed Dr. Uwuigbe’s employment status while maintaining that the matter strictly concerns his private life.
“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,” Aladenika said.
TheNewspad reports that as law enforcement officers peel back the layers of this bizarre tragedy, the shadow of sudden mortality serves as a stark reminder of how fragile life truly is.
While the police toxicology reports and post-mortem examinations are awaited to clear the heavy fog of suspicion, the academic community is left navigating a profound paradox—mourning the loss of a scholar while grappling with the unscripted, private complexities of his final moments.
