Kenny Folarin, Abuja
What initially began as a child’s play has now become a scourge that has gone beyond the control of the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
The City is one of the most developed and most beautiful cities in Nigeria. Abuja is Nigeria’s seat of power and it is believed that in Abuja, life is good.
The City Houses the State House, National Assembly, Federal High Court, Embassies to mention but a few.
Also, the importance of the city lays credence to establishment major 7 star hotels, private establishments including tertiary institutions both public and private.
The City is bordered by the states of Niger to the west and northwest, Kaduna to the northeast, Nassarawa to the east and south, and Kogi to the southwest
For many, the city would have been adjudged to be the best not just in Nigeria but in Africa, according to the master plan of the administration, however the city just like many others also battles with cases of insecurity such as armed robbery, one – chancers, pick-pockets and worse of all, Scavengers popularly known as “Baban Bola”.
The influx of these scavengers would best be described as nightmare which suddenly turns reality in the city, they are usually seen in numbers carrying sack with rubbies from dustbins, construction sites and dump sites.
Initially, their activities are seen among villages in the city, but they have suddenly moved to choicest places in the city such as Asokoro, Maitama, Wuse, and Gwarinpa and they carry out their activities undisturbed.
In 2018, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) proscribed illegal refuse collection from residential and other areas, limiting the group to only the approved dump sites in both the city and the Area Councils.
Meanwhile, Residents of the city had share of illegal activities of the scavengers as they gradually turned into thieves breaking into people’s houses with dangerous equipment and worse still serving as informants to other dangerous criminal elements to perpetrate crime.
Worried by this unwholesome activities, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command, in 2022 ordered a massive clampdown on them following public outcry over the fast rising menace of vandalism and theft of private and public property, including critical national infrastructure by miscreants, who hide under the guise of metal waste scavengers.
While the FCTA intensifies efforts to clampdown on them, it seems the “Baban Bola” has come to stay, many of them live in shanties and would disappear in thin air after committing crimes as no one identifies them.
Even when few arrest were made, many of them are still at large and still roam about freely unhindered.
There is no gainsaying that with the activities of the “Baban Bola” and their large numbers in the city, it is clear that they have come to stay and the FCTA has lost total control on them, at least for now.