The Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State, Arc. Olusegun Aluko, Ph.D has sought the collaborative efforts of community leaders and security agencies in the state to put an end to the recent uprise in armed robbery cases that has enveloped the entire Ilaro township.
Aluko made the declaration on Monday during a stakeholder's meeting with heads of security agencies and community leaders held at the ASUP Hall of the Polytechnic.
Armed robbers in separate operations have reportedly invaded apartments of students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, Ogun State.
It was gathered that the recent was when the robbers, numbering about eight, attacked off-campus students in areas such as School 2, Temitope and Deuteronomy.
The Rector noted that the rampant robbery incident was a result of poor security arrangements by landlords of the densely populated students areas despite the exorbitant fees charged by the landlords and caretakers.
He said when the first incident broke out, the Polytechnic management visited the affected areas and recruited 15 local vigilantes to support Police in the areas.
He, however, refuted the rape allegation of female students as speculated on social media, saying no student was raped.
The Rector emphasized that investigation by the Polytechnic's fact-finding team revealed that, Point of Sale (POS) operations in the affected areas attracted the robbery attacks, calling for drastic action against their operation in residential areas.
"What is happening in Ilaro recently is a strange thing to us and as a Polytechnic we are highly concerned. We commend the effort of the security agencies at ensuring that our students are safe. We have not been sitting idle on our side.
"When the first incident happened, we employed 15 vigilantes to complement the effort of the security on the ground.
"We were there on Saturday and observed what happened, as part of the steps taken, we have some hotlines for our students to call when there are issues like this that allow them to give information. But to our surprise, we discovered that 90% of the students don't have the numbers.
"When the issue started gathering momentum, the NANS came to find out what went wrong, every student has the right to protest, but that does not solve the problem. I thank the NANS Chairman in the state for his dogmatic approach to dousing the tension.
"I want to debunk the issue of rape. There were no rape cases. The issue of POS is important we take drastic action in residential areas because they are prone to attack and attract robbers. I want to assure the students, we are on top of the situation."
Some of the CDA Chairmen who spoke at the meeting blamed the robbery incident on the students' night crawling, display of affluence, the use of expensive phones and gadgets, engaging in free fraud practices, otherwise known as yahoo- yahoo, and use of generators for almost 24 hours daily.
According to the Otun Akeweje of Ilaro Yewa, Chief Akeem Okebunmi the students disrespected rules, regulations, and customs of the Polytechnic as well as that of the host community among others.
The outgoing Students Union President of the Polytechnic, Azeez Uthman called on the traditional rulers to tackle the robbery incident in a traditional way.
He advised the management to revert to online classes and send the students home until the situation receive positive intervention.
Meanwhile, the community leaders, in a communique issued at the end of the meeting enjoined all students living in Ilaro to desist from night crawling, warning that any student caught within the hours of 11pm and 4am shall be arrested and handed over to the school management for immediate dismal.
They called on parents to warn their children from flouting their community's laid down rules and regulations.
