The governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has ordered a ban on the scavenging of metal scraps in all the local government areas of the state.
Zulum had on Monday announced the ban after an on-the-spot assessment, following the discovery of a large number of metal scraps believed to be parts of the government’s properties.
The governor, who was on site tour of projects, came across large quantities of metal scraps, a substantial number of them believed to be property belonging to federal authorities and Borno State government.
Noting that in the last few years, thousands of people were killed in the state as a result of metal scavenging, Governor Zulum added that people go the extreme in the business with some allegedly stealing public properties that include street lights, poles, and tanks belonging to telecommunications companies amongst others.
The Borno number one citizen added that some vehicles in local government areas’ premises in the state have been allegedly destroyed by those interested in the scavenging business, stressing that government cannot allow the nefarious activities to continue.
He then announced an immediate ban on scavenging activities in the twenty seven local government areas of Borno State.
Zulum followed his announcement of the ban with an executive order to that effect, to bring sanity to business activities and safeguard the lives of the scavengers themselves.
