•FCT residents sing discordant tunes
From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Following the ban on scavengers, also known as “baba bola” in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), residents are expressing different opinions on the issue.
While some are hailing the ban, others are wondering how their waste products would be disposed of when the FCT Waste Management Agency is not effective.
National President, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Executive Director, Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Chief Princewill Okorie, feared that Abuja would soon become a huge dumpsite:
“Banning them is not the issue, what plan do you have before banning them? Is there a waste-disposal management agency? Is there a waste-disposal contractor that can be going round to collect the waste of residents of FCT? If you don’t create one and you ban the one existing, it doesn’t make sense. If you ban and you don’t create one to solve the problem of the people, residents will be forced to throw waste indiscriminately.
“That will create more problems. The environment will be dirty, diseases will be all over. But if you ban and you have a good replacement in place, it’s a good idea. Some people are claiming that most of them (baba bola) are criminals.
Allowing such criminal elements to burgle people’s homes or threaten people and do all manners of criminal things is not acceptable. But I think that the FCT Minister should create an effective waste management agency.
“If there’s an agency in place, let them strengthen it and make it effective. Such an agency should have units across the area councils and communities in FCT so that they can easily collect those things.”
A resident, Chris Ochai, said: “We don’t stand to lose anything at all for banning ‘baba bola’ because they constitute a nuisance. I saw a shoemaker in my area praying fervently. He later told me that ‘baba bola’ stole his chairs and some of the things belonging to customers from his shop.
“He said he was praying against them. Their nuisance value is unprecedented. They go about stealing people’s property. The other day, they stole my neighbour’s generator and a small boy raised alarm and the ‘baba bola’ dropped the generator and flew.
“Wike’s pronouncement is good but it should be enforced. The judiciary is not also helping matters. When the law enforcement officers arrest them and charge them to court, the court will free them.
“Few days after, you still see them on the roads again. However, the government should make refuse evacuating vehicles available.”
Madam Patience Nana resides in Nyanya. For her, the ban of “baba bola” is a good development: “The people (baba bola) are not only criminals, they are informants to armed robbers. One of them lured my neighbour’s daughter to an uncompleted building and had a carnal knowledge of her.
“The ‘baba bola’ that picks their refuse every morning took her away and had a carnal knowledge of her. They also indulge in other criminal activities like stealing and selling of hard drugs.
“So, the ban is a welcome development. I think there should be sanity in FCT now.”
Few days ago, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), FCT Command, arrested 36 persons suspected to be “baba bola.” Its commandant, Dr Olusola Odumosu, said the scavengers were arrested in the city centre and the suburbs of Abuja.
Items recovered from them included, four daggers, three jack knives, two chisels, three knives, two pinches and 10 bottles of codeine syrup. Others are 45 wraps of Indian hemp, thrash bags, pieces of iron rods and narcotic drugs.
He said the raid was in compliance with the enforcement of the new policies of government: “I wish to emphasise for the umpteenth time, that most of these scavengers are dangerous elements that must be flushed out of FCT if we want crime to abate.
“Let me walk you through some activities of these miscreants to open our eyes to the dangers they portend to the society. First, they go about the nooks and crannies of the city and satellite towns; house to house, estate to estate, scavenging for plastics, scrap metals and irons.
“But from previous arrests, interrogations and investigations, we have realised that their real business is to vandalise and remove our road infrastructure. These include manhole covers, flood drain covers, street- lights, armoured cables, rail sleepers, iron rods for bridge enforcement and the likes, which would fetch them good money.
“The public also needs to know that some ‘baba bolas’ now disguise to rob innocent commuters and bystanders. They go about with dangerous weapons to attack and dispossess them of their personal belongings especially at night. Our record shows that many who dared to challenge them in the past had met their untimely deaths while others are maimed in various parts of the Federal Capital Territory.
“The most vital is that many of them work as informants for armed robbers, kidnappers, hired assassins, terrorists, bandits and all sorts of criminal gangs. Many families have fallen victims of kidnapping, abduction for ransom, murder, assassination and the like.
“They give information about your family, the number of children you have, the types of cars you drive, where you work and by extension, keeping tabs on your movement. They also assess and profile you through the kind of household waste products you dispose, which in most cases reveals your status and lifestyles.
“Unfortunately in most cases, many of us perceive these miscreants and criminals as ordinary innocent, poor Nigerians, hustling for their daily bread. So, they move about unchecked and unquestioned by anyone.
“Some of us even sympathise with them, by extending alms to them. They are responsible for the various crimes happening around you.
“Owing to these revelation and credible intelligence at our disposal, it is therefore imperative that citizens and residents join hands with the corps and other security agencies to flush out these dangerous elements in the FCT. Chase scavengers away whenever you see them in front of your houses, your streets, neighbourhoods or estates.”