THE NATION
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.
“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.
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