Hardship forced me into robbery, says Imo poly student

A student of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State, Promise Agonwu, has explained that he went into armed robbery because he could no longer cope with the hardship in the country.

Agonwu, who is an OND 2 student, was one of the six suspected cultists and armed robbers paraded in Port Harcourt on Wednesday by the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura.

It was gathered that the suspect was arrested alongside another member of his robbery gang in a forest in Etche.

Agonwu told our correspondent that he was arrested at the Agip area of Port Harcourt during a robbery operation.

He stated, “I was arrested because I was involved in armed robbery. The robbery took place at Agip in Port Harcourt. I went into robbery because of hardship.

“I am an OND 2 student of Computer Science at the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, in Imo State. I am Promise Agonwu from the Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State.”

Earlier, Dandaura had explained that the suspect and others were among those terrorising the people of Etche and its environs.

The suspects, according to him were arrested in the Obibi forest, Etche, during an operation by the police in conjunction with sister security agencies following a tip-off.

He listed the arms and ammunition recovered from the forest to include three AK-47 rifles, one pump action gun, one Barretta pistol, two locally-made pistols, six magazines and one cut-to-size gun.

On the death of Chima Ikwunado, a Port Harcourt-based automobile mechanic, who died in police custody, the CP said the command was still investigating the matter and would soon come out with its position.

Dandaura stated, “I will talk to the people of Rivers State on the Ikokwu (Chima Ikwunado) issue. I feel it is not yet time for me to speak on the matter because it is still under investigation.

“I promise that at the end of the investigation, I will brief the press on the outcome. So, I appeal to the good people of Rivers State to exercise patience; we are not suppressing anything or unduly helping anybody.”

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