Some residents of Ibadan in Oyo State have decried the high rate of vandalism and other crimes allegedly perpetrated in the communities by scavengers.
The residents, expressing their concerns in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday – today, March 1 – said the scavengers, also known as junk dealers, have become a real pain in the neck.
The residents lamented that the scavengers hitherto known for picking up iron scraps and other disposed materials, have turned to stealing valuable items in their communities, leading to some community development associations banning their movements within their areas.
Mr Wale Adegboyega, a resident of Eleta community, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area (LGA), said the scavengers often vandalise private and other public properties in their aggressive search for items.
“The scavengers, who are mostly young boys of secondary school age, usually roam the streets when most of us would have gone to work, giving them free access to loot properties,” he said.
He said that metal signposts, padlocks, and metal culverts constructed by residents and the landlord association are often stolen by the scavengers.
A resident of Omi-Adio, Mrs Muibat Abegunde, alleged that scavengers now move around uncompleted buildings in new sites in search of installed electricity cables in the buildings.
“They go as far as stealing lintel rods and other metal objects,” she agonized, warning that, “Some criminals now disguise themselves as scavengers to survey houses of well-meaning Nigerians within the community to discover easy access to rob them later.”
“Most scavengers are now informants to armed robbery gangs; we need urgent government intervention through security agents,” she said.
A resident of Omi-Adio, Mrs Fatimah Jimoh, asserted that the scavengers have largely become thieves, entering new sites to steal electric cables, drums, aluminum window panels, and electrical appliances.
“No matter how one secures his/her house, these boys will destroy it to gain entrance to the house before stealing what one has struggled to buy,” she lamented.
“Their modus operandi is to reach the community when civil servants and those selling in far markets had left their houses.”
Jimoh alleged that some of the scavengers, when caught stealing, enjoy the backing of their association, assumed to be in the Sabo area of Ibadan.
She said the association would usually offer to pay a fraction of what they destroyed or stole, sometimes ensuring they evade arrest and trial.
For his part, Mr Adeyemi Ojo, Chairman, Kolajo-Orelope Community Development Association, Oluyole LGA, said communities could not outrightly go against the iron scavengers’ right to free movement.
“However, we have taken steps to regulate their activities,” he assured, disclosing that scavengers seeking to operate within the community must be duly registered with the community security committee and obtain the community’s identity card.
“The card must be shown to security officers during entry and exit from the community,” he said, adding that unique reflective jackets have also been made available for the scavengers to wear when buying and selling any item within the community.
“This is for proper identification. We are working in collaboration with law enforcement agents to curb the negative activities of scavengers.
“We have also created a central reporting system for prompt response to any security issue within the community,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Samuel Opebiyi, Public Relations Officer, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Oyo State Command, reiterated the corps’ core mandate to protect critical national assets and infrastructure, when accosted for his reaction to residents’ claims about scavengers.
According to him, NSCDC personnel are fully committed to waging war against vandalism.
“To combat the increasing menace posed by such criminal elements under the guise of scavenging, we have intensified our surveillance and monitoring efforts, especially in areas prone to infrastructure theft.
“Our personnel are actively collaborating with other security agencies to ensure a more coordinated and robust approach to curbing these crimes,” he said.
Accordingly, the command conducts regular patrols to identify and apprehend scavengers vandalising and stealing public and private assets, Opebiyi declared.
“We also engage with local communities to raise awareness about the consequences of such criminal acts, which include arrest, prosecution, and severe penalties under the law,” he emphasized.
