Hundreds of women and children descended on the Edo State Assembly in Benin City on Monday, demanding the immediate release of six husbands reportedly arrested by police three weeks earlier in the Okhorumi community of Oredo Local Government Area. Many of the protesters carried placards accusing security forces of indiscriminate arrests and insisting their spouses were innocent.
According to Daily Post, the Edo State Police Command had initially arrested the six men for alleged possession of illegal arms, ammunition, and even a suspected human skull. Local residents learned that the weapons in question were found in a public football field used by youths from both Okhorumi and neighbouring communities—a space open to anyone, including those at odds with the detainees.
Spokesperson for the protesters, Mrs. Abieyuwa Otasowie, wife of one of the detainees, told journalists,
“We are not here to fight. We came to beg. Our husbands are innocent. Since they were taken away, our children have not been going to school. We just want them back.”
Otasowie explained that police had already searched homes and hotels within the community and found nothing before detaining the six men. “The field where they say they found the guns is open to everybody, even those who fight us in the community come there to play,” she added, underscoring the perceived unfairness of the arrests.
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With many families now struggling to survive—children out of school and households without their primary breadwinners—the protesters pleaded with traditional and political authorities for intervention. The women specifically appealed to the Oba of Benin, describing him as “a father to us all,” and begged Governor Monday Okpebholo to withdraw the charges that led to their husbands’ remand at the Oko Custodial Centre.
The demonstrators warned that without swift action, the emotional and financial strain on their families would worsen. Some women held their infants on their backs, illustrating how their children’s education and wellbeing have been disrupted. Many wore sorrowful expressions, chanting slogans that called for justice and the reunification of their families.
As of Tuesday morning, there has been no official response from state authorities. Observers note that how quickly Governor Okpebholo and state security agencies address this matter could influence public confidence in local policing and justice processes. For now, the image of tearful wives and children outside the Edo Assembly has become a poignant symbol of the human cost behind allegations of illegal arms possession in rural communities.
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