Ambrose Alli University, AAU, Ekpoma, has confirmed the death of one of its senior lecturers, Dr Matthew Uwuigbe, but stressed that the circumstances surrounding his death were entirely outside his official duties at the institution.
Uwuigbe reportedly died on Sunday at a hotel in the Mosco area of Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State, after checking into the facility with a 21-year-old woman.
Reacting to reports surrounding the incident, the university said while Uwuigbe was a member of its academic staff, he was engaged in a private activity at the time of his death and the incident had no connection with the university.
AAU Public Relations Officer, Otunba Mike Ade Aladenika, said the incident occurred outside the university premises and should therefore be viewed within the context of the deceased lecturer’s 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.
The university’s clarification followed confirmation by the Edo State Police Command that it had commenced investigation into the circumstances surrounding Uwuigbe’s death.
Police spokesperson, Eno Ikoedem, said the command received a report on the incident at about 8 p.m. on October 5, 2026.
According to the police account, the lecturer had lodged at a hotel in Ekpoma and reportedly engaged the services of a 21-year-old woman identified as 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.
Police said the woman, the owner of the hotel, and its manager had subsequently been taken into custody as investigators sought to establish what happened before Uwuigbe’s death.
His remains were deposited at the mortuary of Oriaifo Memorial Hospital.
The university’s intervention appeared aimed at separating Uwuigbe’s status as a lecturer from the circumstances in which he died, particularly following reports linking his occupation prominently to the incident.
AAU maintained that neither the location nor the activity associated with the incident had any connection with the university. It also specifically clarified that the woman involved was not a student of the institution.
Meanwhile, the police have not announced the cause of Uwuigbe’s death, with investigations continuing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
