Borno: Gov Zulum bans metal scavenging over insecurity

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, said he has banned metal scavenging activities across the entire 27 local government areas of the state following the activities of bandits.

He said he would work closely with security agencies to enforce the ban by imposing stringent penalties on violators.

News Men recalls that bandit attacks and other forms of criminal activities have forestalled economic activities and claimed several lives of innocent people in the state.

Following this, the governor, on Monday, said the ban aimed to forestall continued killings of scavengers by Boko Haram insurgents at the outskirts of some local government areas and theft of public and private property.

“Within the last five years, many people were killed as a result of metal scavenging. That has informed the government of Borno State to investigate such nefarious activities,” Zulum said.

According to him, scavengers in the state are known for destroying both public and private properties in some LGA where the activities of Boko Haram forced residents to flee, adding that the state government lost valuable properties worth billions of naira in the last five years resulting from the actions of scavengers.

He also extended the ban on metal scavenging to all forms of informal and unregulated metal recovery activities, including the dismantling, collection, and transportation of scrap metals.