Help, scrap metal scavengers have stolen our peace!
The scrap metal and iron collection business appears to be booming as many unemployed youths have taken to it to keep themselves busy. As good as the development may seem, many communities are groaning under the weight of the unwholesome activities of some unscrupulous elements among these scrap metal and iron collectors. GBENGA ADERANTI writes on the burden that many of them constitute to many communities where they operate.
It was a typical Monday morning, and Mr. Adetokunbo Johnson, a resident of Akute, Ogun State, was taking his children to school in his Honda Civic car. Suddenly, he bumped into a ditch and his car got stuck, causing two of his children to sustain slight injuries. He wondered what could have been responsible for the hitch as he walked 360 degrees around the car to see what was amiss.
After a thorough check, he discovered to his utmost shock that the makeshift iron bridge built across the drainage for easy passage of vehicles had been removed by people suspected to be scrap metal scavengers, known in street parlance as ‘condemned iron man ‘.
“I have been taking this route for more than three years and never suspected that anyone would remove the iron bar sustaining the bridge,” a dejected Johnson said.
Initially thinking that it was the community’s decision to remove the iron, he threatened to sue. But his anger turned to surprise when he learnt that it was one of the scrap metal scavengers that removed the makeshift iron bridge.
Also narrating his experience, Mr. Gbenga Adeyemi, a resident of Lambe, a suburb of Ogun State recounted how he lost his generator to scrap metal scavengers.
Lamenting the development, he said: “I kept the generator outside my compound with the main gate of my house locked, not knowing that I was deceiving myself.
“It was later in the night that I discovered that the generator had disappeared from my compound.”
It was in the process of investigating how the incident occurred that one of the residents said they saw the generator with a ‘condemned iron’ man. An eyewitness said that when the scrap metal scavenger was accosted, he told the resident that it was Adeyemi who sold the generator to him because it was no longer useful.
Unfortunately, the resident did not bother to crosscheck his claims with Adeyemi because it was not uncommon in the community for residents to sell their disused iron and metals to scavengers.
Another resident of Lambe, Destiny Kingsley, is still lamenting his loss a year after his house was invaded by some scrap metal scavengers.
According to him, he left his house for work on a Monday morning to return on Friday evening as usual only to find that his house had been turned upside down.
Destiny said: “I was just too tired to take stock of things and there was no light. But the second day, I was shocked at the extent of the heist in my apartment.
“That was when I realized that I was in big trouble. The three plasma television sets in the bedrooms and the living room had been taken away.
“The pots and spoons in the kitchen had also all disappeared. All the window curtains had vanished and the DVD player and speakers had all gone.
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“I suspect that it was not a job done in one day. How would a petty thief take time to pack all those things?”
The general believe in the community was that the scrap metal scavengers and refuse collectors were responsible for the burglary. And Destiny’s suspicion that his house was burgled by either waste parkers or scrap iron scavengers was confirmed when he later saw an abandoned pair of slippers, sacks and some iron materials synonymous with ones scrap metal scavengers always carry about.
“Many people in the community used to quarrel with me for being hostile to these undesirable elements.
“I told them that allowing them to operate freely within the community is dangerous, but they would not listen. Am I not vindicated now?” Destiny asked.
Most of these scrap metal scavengers are vicious and shrewd. They would damage anything to get their desired iron and metal materials. A video was recently posted on social media highlighting the activities of these iron and metal dealers in the Festac area of Lagos. In the said video, some of the materials used to build barriers on a bridge were seen to have been removed while an attempt was also made to remove some of the iron used in constructing the bridge.
The reporter once sighted a group of these scavengers at the GRA, Ikeja, Lagos at about 11. 30 pm trying to remove some iron used to prevent plastics and other waste materials from escaping into a major drainage.
Surprisingly, the average metal scrap dealer looks innocent and incapable of doing any harm. Beneath their facade of innocence, however, is wickedness and greed.
While they are everywhere seemingly doing the business of buying disused metal and iron materials, those who have experienced their wicked acts would warn that you could only fall for their innocent looks at your own peril.
While the communities continue to suffer, losing their belongings to these scavengers, the irritating clinging of metals and irons that wake them up every morning, as a result of the activities of the metal dealers has become a source of concern to many. Resident associations appear helpless as many of their members complain bitterly about the unsolicited melody.
“It is very irritating seeing someone wake you up as early as 6am with a cacophonic sound of metal and iron,” said Eddy Eboigbe, a resident.
Yet the challenges are not peculiar to residents of the aforementioned Ogun and Lagos communities. Other states in Nigeria are also battling with the invasion of their communities by scrap iron and metal scavengers.
But while people like Destiny are opposed to the activities of used metal collectors, other residents are not disposed to stopping them. This is particularly the case with housewives and children who make easy money from disposing of their unwanted metals and irons.
The reporter also gathered that some of the children of landlords work hand in hand with the thieving scavengers. Narrating how he gets his stocks, one of the scavengers who was caught recently fingered some landlords’ children as part of the deal.
He said: “It is the children of the landlords in the community that give us information about who and who is around and when to come.
“And most times when we take these things during the day, we keep them in their house and come back in the night to pick them.
“Because they know the value of what we have, they collect their share of the loot.”
In another instance, a scrap metal scavenger arrested after stealing a burglary proof from an uncompleted building Akute, an Ogun community, confessed to buying the ‘condemned iron’ from a resident of an uncompleted building.
The Nation learnt that the market value of the burglary proof was about N140,000 while the young man sold the material to the vendor for a paltry N10,000.
In some communities, the fear of the scrap metal scavengers is the beginning of wisdom. The situation has become so bad that many residents have jettisoned the use of iron to cover their drainage; rather, they have resorted to concrete slabs.
The Nation gathered that in a particular community, all the iron covers of their drainages were stolen within one week.
A member of the Landlords’ association in one of the communities, who craved anonymity said: “We just woke up one Sunday, and we discovered that no fewer than 20 percent of the iron drainage covers had been removed.
“Those who did the dirty job must have carried out the operation at dawn. We didn’t take it seriously until we discovered the incident had become rampant.”
Currently, some of the houses that still have their iron drainage covers intact lock them with keys. Those who have lost theirs and cannot afford concrete slabs cover their drainages with planks.
Communities in dilemma
On account of the involvement of landlords’ children, many communities find it difficult to take action when thieving scavengers are caught.
As a way of stopping the incessant burgling of houses, some landlords’ associations have restricted the number of scrap metal scavengers that could enter their communities. Others have gone a step further by registering them and giving them uniforms. But these are only possible in communities where there are gates.
More trouble for residents
It is also worrisome that besides the nuisance they constitute by stealing metals in the community, it is not also uncommon to see these dealers setting up shanties in open places. To worsen matters, the shanties are not accessible to outsiders except they are part of the scrap metal business.
Only recently, the Ogun State Government demolished their shanties under the bridge being built in Akute. Unfortunately, they are gradually returning to the place.
“I really don’t know why the government cannot do anything about these scrap metal dealers. They are a nuisance to the community.
“To make matters worse, they set up their shanties anywhere without anyone challenging them,” said Mr Ajibola Rasheed.
Turning waste into wealth
One of the scavengers, Abdul Rabiu, who spoke with our correspondent, said “the business is very profitable because you don’t need money to make money. All that is needed is patience and perseverance.”
According to him, he gets most of the scrap metals he sells from dust bins and on the road.
“You won’t appreciate the volume of metals that I pick on the road with magnets. By the time I pack everything together and weigh them, they become money,” he said with excitement.
He also recalled that most residents pay them to dispose of iron materials that should have been sold to them.
The flip side is that many residents are becoming hostile because they see the average scavenger as a thief. This, Rabiu said, has really affected the business, though he told The Nation that he makes between N5,000 and N10,000 from picking disused iron materials on a daily basis.
It was gathered that scrap metal scavengers make millions just by collecting and selling metal waste. At the rate of N800 to N1,000 per kg, a collector could make as much as N7 million from a truckload of aluminum and about N25 million from copper.
Fortunately for these scrap metal collectors, they buy at giveaway prices and oftentimes pick freely on the road. Little wonder the number of vendors has continued to soar.
Besides, the business is not regulated as it is an all comer affair. It is a lucrative business in Nigeria because scrap metal collectors have become a source of raw materials for companies that recycle them.
According to a report, Nigeria consumes almost 7 million metric tons of metal annually. As of 2019, the global metal recycling business at large was worth $52.1 billion, and it has been projected to grow as high as $76.1 billion at a massive CAGR of 7.8% within the forecast period of 2020 and 2025.
The USA stands tall in the metal recycling market. The country exported over 17,000 metric tons of scrap metal in 2019. The US is trailed by Japan (7,657 MT), Canada (4,369 MT), Russia (4,059 MT) and Australia (2,325 MT) in the same market year.
On the flip side, Turkey remains the biggest importer of scrap metal, with particular attention on steel metal. The Eurasian country imported a whopping 19 million MT of scrap steel alone in 2019. This further underlines the heavy demand for scrap metal all over the world.
The vocation has provided employment opportunities to many youths who otherwise would have remained unemployed. Irrespective of the nuisance they constitute, many Nigerians will continue to do the business as long as the status quo remains.
According to a report, report by minesandsteel.gov.ng over 95% of the current steel production in Nigeria is from scrap metal. The scrap metals, after recycling, are a source of raw materials for manufacturing Companies that are into production of household appliances, building tools, vehicles and items as small as drinks can.
In some communities, the fear of the scrap metal scavengers is the beginning of wisdom. The situation has become so bad that many residents have jettisoned the use of iron to cover their drainages; rather, they have resorted to concrete slabs.
