A well-known human rights lawyer has reportedly given the Edo State Police Command a 72-hour deadline to ensure the arrest and official charge of the students involved in the viral assault case at Igbinedion Education Center, marking a dramatic increase in the legal pressure surrounding the case. This demand started making the rounds on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in response to mounting public dissatisfaction over the alleged delay in apprehending the identified attackers in spite of the unmistakable proof offered by the extensively circulated video.
While the school has taken the administrative step of expulsion, the legal counsel, speaking on behalf of a coalition of concerned citizens and child rights advocates, contended that a prompt judicial response is necessary to prevent a “culture of impunity” in private institutions due to the criminal nature of the assault, which involved a student being stomped on the head and chest.
The ultimatum warns that the legal team will file a writ of mandamus to force the police to carry out their statutory obligation if they do not give a definitive report on the suspects’ custody within the allotted three days.
Commissioner Monday Agbonika of the Edo State Police Command had previously declared that although they are pursuing prosecution, the procedure is being handled with “sensitivity to the age of the minors” involved. But the legal threat has changed the story, drawing attention to the procedural discrepancy between the state’s criminal probe and the school’s internal disciplinary actions.
The attorney stressed that “the gravity of the violence seen in that footage transcends mere school discipline; it is a felony that almost resulted in a fatality,” according to reports from Benin City. A number of civil society organizations, such as ActionAid Nigeria, which called the occurrence a “systemic failure” in child protection, support this position. The ultimatum specifically calls for the children to be detained in a juvenile institution and for the administration of the school to be questioned about how such an incident could have escalated to such a degree of violence without prompt action.
The Edo State Government confirmed that the five-member inquiry committee is operating at an “accelerated pace” in an effort to defuse the crisis as the 72-hour clock starts to run out. Kassim Afegbua, Commissioner for Information, insisted on Wednesday that no “calls from above” will shield the families of the powerful students implicated and that the government’s commitment to justice is unwavering.
The legal ultimatum offers a crucial layer of defense against being coerced into silence for the victim’s family, who have apparently been contacted by the attackers’ parents for an out-of-court settlement. As the public watches to see if the command will fulfill the lawyer’s deadline or if the issue will turn into a high-profile constitutional dispute over child rights and state responsibility, the editorial attention in Edo State is still fixated on the police headquarters.
