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…says it’s measure to prevent more killings
From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Borno governor, Babagana Zulum, has banned the activities of metal and iron scavengers in the state to prevent further killings by Boko Haram and its rival, ISWAP.
Zulun announced the ban yesterday at a community in the state once attacked by insurgents.
Dozens of metal scavengers have been killed by Boko Haram while in search of twisted iron, metal in public or private buildings as well as telecom masts destroyed during insurgent so attacks on communities and towns.
Checks show that these scavengers whose motive is to make brisk business of the ruins, have met stiffer opposition from the insurgents. The insurgents too scavenge for same iron either for use in their camps or for economic reason but Gov Zulum said government imposed the ban to stop more killings of citizens.
“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,” he said.
He said he has directed “the ban of metal scavenging in all 27 local governments until further notice.”
Also, he said scavengers were notorious for destroying both public and private properties in most local government areas where the activities of Boko Haram forced residents to flee.
He revealed that the state government lost valuable properties worth billions of naira in the last five years through the activities of scavengers.
His spokesman, Isa Gusau earlier in a statement, said the governor equally 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.”
Increasing killings of metal scavenging in Borno accentuate the complex nature of terrorism activities in the area as the violence enters its 14th years.
