A 24-year-old suspect who specialised in stealing phones and other valuable items in Agbor and environs, a Delta State community, Emmanuel Chinagorom has pleaded for forgiveness over his involvement in criminal activities in the area.
Chinagorom who begged for forgiveness when he was arrested by members of the Agbor Gha-Ihun Vigilante Group in the community, was reportedly caught red-handed at a shop in the locality.
Speaking to newsmen, the Abia State-born suspect who claimed to be an electrical technician by trade, confessed to the crime, saying that he went into stealing to enable him give his late mother, “whose body is lying in the mortuary, a befitting burial as the first son.”
“I enter shops pretending to patronise them but my aim was always to steal valuable items like phones. This is my first time in Agbor before I was caught,” he said.
Chinagorom further confessed that he worked with a northerner based in Asaba who bought the stolen phones, adding that he had chosen the path of stealing as he had no helper to assist him to start off life.
The Chairman of Agbor Gha-Ihun Vigilante, Comrade Monday Kiyem, told journalists that they “would continue to ensure that Agbor and its environs remain unsafe places for criminals like the apprehended suspect.”
The vigilante chairman disclosed that during investigation, they discovered several telecommunication SIM cards and phones in the suspect’s possession and that many of his victims who were later called, complained that their phones were stolen at different places.
He said, “Some of the victims who reside in Agbor have come to our office to identify their phones and narrated how the suspect came to their shops pretending to buy an item but ended up stealing their phones.
“I will hand Emmanuel over to the police for further investigation and bring his fleeing gang members to book”.
The Special Assistant on Security to the Delta State Governor, Comrade Kiyem, urged criminally-minded individuals to flee from Agbor or be ready to face the wrath of the law when caught.
