Acting on the directive by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, to rid Abuja of scavengers, popularly known as ‘Baban bola,’ the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) FCT Command has arrested 37 scavengers.
FCT Commandant of NSCDC, Dr Olusola Odumosu, who paraded the suspects at the Command headquarters on Friday in Abuja, expressed his resolution to ensure that the ban on the activities of scavengers by the FCT Minister would be enforced to the letter.
The arrests, according to him, were in compliance with the enforcement of new policies of the government regulating the pantaker markets and the outright ban on scavenging in the FCT.
He raised concerns that some of the suspects were apprehended with hard drugs, including wraps of a substance suspected to be Indian hemp, narcotic drugs, jackknives, and other dangerous weapons.
Odumosu insisted that the scavengers and miscreants were dangerous elements that must be flushed out of Abuja if crimes and criminality in the FCT must be curtailed.
He disclosed that the following exhibits were recovered from the suspects: 4 daggers, 3 jack knives, 2 chisels, 3 knives, 2 pinches, 10 bottles of codeine syrup, 45 wraps of Indian hemp, trash bags, pieces of iron rods, and narcotic drugs.
He said: “Firstly, 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 such as manhole covers, flood drain covers, street lights, armoured cables, rail sleepers, iron rods for bridge reinforcement, and the like, which would fetch them good money.
“The public also needs to know that some ‘Baban bolas’ now disguise themselves to rob innocent commuters and bystanders as they go about with dangerous weapons to attack and dispossess them of their personal belongings, especially at night.
“Our records show that many who dared to challenge them in the past met their untimely deaths, while others are maimed in various parts of the Federal Capital Territory.
“Many residents of the FCT and environs have experienced the sudden disappearances of many of their household items, like generators, cooking pots, stoves, pressing irons, air conditioners, compressors, car batteries, security light panels, iron drain covers, and so on.
“Scavengers are major suspects to most of such disappearances, and they carry out these activities whenever they notice that there is no one in sight, but not without wielding dangerous weapons in case they are busted by the house owners.
“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 victim to kidnapping, abduction for ransom, murder, assassination, and the like because 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 of, which in most cases reveals your status and lifestyle.
“Unfortunately, and 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, whereas they are responsible for the various crimes happening around you.
“Owing to these revelations 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 by chasing scavengers away whenever you see them in front of your houses, your streets, neighbourhoods, or estates.
“The public should note that, although they appear innocent, armless, and vulnerable, most of them are extremely dangerous, their activities are criminal in nature, and they constitute threats not only to the safety and security of lives, property, and infrastructure in the FCT but to Nigeria’s national security architecture as a whole,” the Commandant stated.
He reiterated that the activities of scavengers, otherwise known as Baban Bola, have been banned in the city centre and the suburbs, both during the day and at night.
Commandant Odumosu advised the public to dispose of their refuse properly and stop patronising Baban Bola for their own safety and those of their family members.
He charged them to always give relevant information about any suspicious movements or activities of these criminal scavengers to the appropriate authorities.
He said that the suspects are currently being investigated and profiled, noting that due diligence will be followed in their prosecution.
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