AAU Senior Lecturer Dies in Ekpoma Hotel After Reported Encounter With 21 Year Old Woman
By Globalvoice Investigations
A senior lecturer at Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo State, Dr Matthew Uwuigbe, has been found dead in a hotel room following a reported encounter with a 21 year old woman identified by police as Angela Defa Jacob.
The incident occurred on Sunday, October 5, 2026, at a hotel in the Mosco area of Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area, and has prompted a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the lecturer's death.
Police said three people have been arrested in connection with the incident, including the hotel owner, the hotel manager and the woman who was reportedly with Uwuigbe.
Police Account of the Incident
According to the Edo State Police Command, Uwuigbe checked into the hotel with Jacob and later asked her to leave the room to purchase water.
The police said the woman returned to the room and found the lecturer lying dead on the bed.
The matter was subsequently reported to the police at about 8pm.
Edo State Police spokesperson Eno Ikoedem confirmed the incident, saying investigations were ongoing.
She said the police received a report that Uwuigbe, an AAU lecturer, had lodged at the hotel and engaged the services of the 21 year old woman.
According to the police account, Uwuigbe subsequently sent her to purchase water, after which she returned and found him dead inside the room.
The lecturer's remains have since been deposited at the Oriaifo Memorial Hospital mortuary, according to the police.
Three Persons in Police Custody
The circumstances surrounding Uwuigbe's death remain unclear.
The police have not publicly established the cause of death, nor have authorities said that the reported sexual encounter was responsible for his death.
The arrest of the hotel owner, manager and the woman appears to form part of the ongoing effort to establish what happened inside the room before Uwuigbe was found dead.
A post mortem examination and other forensic findings could become important in determining whether the death resulted from a medical emergency, an underlying health condition, substance related factors, foul play or another cause.
Until such findings are released, any direct link between the reported encounter and the lecturer's death remains unproven.
AAU: Incident Happened Outside the University
The university has confirmed that Uwuigbe was a member of its academic staff but stressed that the incident did not occur on campus.
AAU Public Relations Officer, Otunba Mike Ade Aladenika, said the university was aware of Uwuigbe's death but described the circumstances as a private matter.
“We are not denying that he is our staff, but whatever he did and what happened, it is his private life,” Aladenika said.
He also clarified that the woman involved was not an AAU student and that the incident occurred outside the institution.
What Remains Unanswered?
The case raises several questions that the police investigation will have to resolve.
What caused the lecturer's death? Was there any medical condition or substance involved? Were there witnesses who saw Uwuigbe before his death? What evidence was recovered from the hotel room? And why were the hotel owner and manager taken into custody alongside the woman who was reportedly with him?
Most importantly, investigators will need to establish the sequence of events between Uwuigbe's arrival at the hotel, the woman's departure to purchase water and her return to find him dead.
For now, the reported sexual encounter is part of the police narrative surrounding the incident not an established explanation for the lecturer's death.
As the investigation continues, the key question is whether forensic evidence will confirm a natural or medical cause of death or point to circumstances requiring further criminal investigation.
