Dr Matthew Uwuigbe, a senior lecturer at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, died in a hotel room in the Mosco area of Ekpoma on Monday, October 5, 2026, after he reportedly lodged there with a 21-year-old woman, prompting the Edo State Police Command to arrest three people as investigators work to establish what happened in his final moments.

The sudden death of the AAU lecturer has drawn attention in Ekpoma, particularly because of the circumstances surrounding the hotel visit.

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Police have not said that the woman or either of the two hotel workers arrested caused Uwuigbe’s death, and the precise cause of death remains to be established.

According to the police account, Uwuigbe had checked into the hotel with the 21-year-old woman, identified in reports as Angela Defa Jacob. At some point, he reportedly asked her to leave the room to buy water.

When the woman returned, she allegedly found Uwuigbe lying motionless in the room.

The matter was subsequently reported to the police at about 8pm, according to the account given by Edo State Police spokesperson ASP Eno Ikoedem.

Ikoedem said three people were arrested in connection with the investigation. Those detained were the woman, the hotel owner and the hotel manager.

“On October 5, 2026, at about 8pm, 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,” Ikoedem said.

She added that Uwuigbe subsequently sent the woman to purchase water and that she found him dead when she returned.

The lecturer’s remains have been deposited at the Oriaifo Memorial Hospital mortuary while police inquiries continue.

Investigators are expected to establish the circumstances of his death and determine whether any offence was committed.

The incident occurred outside the university’s premises, a distinction AAU officials have emphasised as reports about the death spread.

Otunba Mike Ade Aladenika, the university’s Public Relations Officer, confirmed that Uwuigbe was a member of the institution’s academic staff but said the circumstances did not involve the university.

“We are not denying that he is our staff, but whatever he did and what happened, it is his private life,” Aladenika said. “The girl in question is not our student, and everything happened outside our institution.”

Uwuigbe’s professional background also places the death in an academic context.

Research published in 2025 lists Matthew Uwuigbe among researchers affiliated with the Department of Histopathology in the Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science at Ambrose Alli University.

One of the studies, published in the Radinka Journal of Health Science, examined the histological effects of an antidiabetic herbal tea on the spleen of laboratory rats.

Another paper involving Uwuigbe examined the effects of the same type of herbal intervention on kidney tissue.

That academic record adds another dimension to the case, but it does not provide evidence about the cause of his death. Police have yet to publicly disclose a medical finding explaining why the lecturer died.

There are also inconsistencies in early reports over the timing of the incident. Some reports described October 5 as a Sunday, while October 5, 2026, was a Monday.

The police account cited by multiple reports places the notification to the command at about 8pm that day.

The age of the deceased has also not been officially stated in the reports reviewed, although one account described him as being in his 50s.

The 21-year-old woman was the only person whose age was specifically given by police.

For now, the arrest of the three people should be viewed as part of an ongoing investigation rather than proof of wrongdoing.

The police have not publicly attributed responsibility for Uwuigbe’s death to any of those in custody.

The most significant unanswered question remains what caused the lecturer’s sudden death.

That determination is likely to depend on the police investigation and medical evidence as authorities reconstruct what happened inside the hotel room.

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As the investigation continues, Uwuigbe’s death has left colleagues and the wider Ekpoma academic community confronting a sudden and unsettling loss, while authorities work to provide a clearer account of the circumstances surrounding his final hours.