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Kubwa residents want operations of ‘scavengers’ regulated

By NAN
11 February 2016   |   4:44 pm
Residents of Kubwa have advised the relevant FCT authorities to regulate the operation of `scavengers’, otherwise known as ``Mai Bolas’’. Some of the residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, said that such regulation would check criminal and unwholesome practices among the refuse collectors. Mr Ganiyu Olubade, a…

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Residents of Kubwa have advised the relevant FCT authorities to regulate the operation of `scavengers’, otherwise known as “Mai Bolas’’.

Some of the residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, said that such regulation would check criminal and unwholesome practices among the refuse collectors.

Mr Ganiyu Olubade, a resident of Phase 2, Site 2, alleged that most thefts in the community were carried out by the scavengers.

“When the people leave for their work and businesses, everywhere will look deserted and these boys will come under the guise of picking refuse and steal some valuables.

“They hide whatever they steal inside their carts and cover it with refuse.

“They should be properly monitored by each community and if possible, registered.

“Since it has become difficult for the government to have a functional refuse collection and dumping system, it should put in place a mechanism to properly monitor refuse scavengers,’’ he said.

Also, Mr Joe Okon, a resident of Old Maitama, Kubwa, said that he once witnessed a situation where a scavenger stole a generator popularly called “I pass my neighbour’’.

Okon said he accosted the scavenger and demanded to know what was underneath the refuse he was carrying but was met with hostility.

“I insisted on seeing what he covered; as luck would have it, the woman whose generator was stolen came out screaming and begging for assistance.

“It was at that time that the scavenger brought out the generator; I insisted that we will take him to the police station but the woman was unwilling,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, some communities in Kubwa have made arrangements on how to check and regulate the refuse collectors in order to avoid criminalities.

Mr Adul Musa, a community leader in PW area of Kubwa, said that a kind of accreditation had been done for the scavengers.

“Only those we registered can operate in our community; we gave numbered vests and we know them one by one.

“Beside that, they only come on approved days and operate on approved time frame.

“Since we introduced these measures, there has been a reduction in cases of theft by the scavengers,’’ he said.

Musa urged the FCT authorities to revive the use of incinerators in picking refuse street by street so that residents would not depend on “`Mai Bolas’’ in disposing refuse.

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