BY: NEWS DESK, OCTOBER 19, 2026/ 12:31PM
The National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers Employers of Nigeria has denied allegation by Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, that scrap metal scavengers stole electrical cables worth N3 billion in the state.
The Deputy National President of the association, Aminu Hassan Soja, in a statement posted on his Facebook wall, challenged the governor to provide verifiable evidence to back the claim.
Soja demanded to know the contractor responsible for the project, the year it was executed, whether the cables were actually supplied and installed, and when the alleged theft occurred.
He questioned how the government arrived at its conclusion when scrap metal activities have been banned in the state for more than three years.
'Governor Zulum must not use scrap dealers as scapegoats to conceal the government's failures in providing basic social amenities and infrastructure. You cannot accuse an entire industry without presenting credible evidence,' Soja said.
Gov. Zulum had made the allegation on Saturday while addressing scrap metal operators in Maiduguri.
He said the state government spent over N3 billion to connect an electricity distribution line from Damaturu to Maiduguri, but the wires were stolen by metal scavengers.
He also cited security intelligence indicating that insurgents use the platforms of scrap dealers to sell looted metals, adding that the killing of hundreds of scavengers in unsafe villages prompted the ban on the trade.
Soja said the association distances itself from Boko Haram and all forms of terrorism, insisting it is a legitimate body representing law-abiding dealers.
He warned that portraying scrap dealers as criminals without substantiated evidence amounts to giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it.
The association called on the Borno State Government to provide evidence, identify those responsible if a crime occurred, and stop making generalised allegations against legitimate business operators.