Borno State Police Command has confirmed that no fewer than 55 scrap metal collectors were killed in a series of attacks coordinated by ISWAP/Boko Haram insurgents in the last three weeks in Borno State.
Abdu Umar, the State Commissioner of Police made this known to newsmen during an engagement with stakeholders in security yesterday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Umar, while giving a breakdown on the attack, said Boko Haram insurgents recently killed 32 scrap metal collectors at Modu village in Kala-Balge Local Government Area, while 23 others were also murdered at Mukdala village of Dikwa Local Government Area, respectively.
According to the Police Commissioner, the victims usually sneaked into the forests, located about 25 kilometers from the towns without informing the security agencies for scrap metal collection.
The CP said, “Gov. Babagana Zulum has directed security agencies to adopt proactive measures to forestall future occurrence of these incidents
“The State government is also working to come up with a policy plans to checkmate these activities”.
Also commenting, Malam Umar Usman, Chairman, Scrap Metal Association in the State, said the victims of the attacks in both Kala-Balge and Dikwa were not registered members of the association.
He claimed that the victims were Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the affected communities.
“The association is monitoring activities of over 3,000 registered scrap metal collectors across 27 LGAs of the State”, the Chairman said.
He, however, debunked alleged vandalism of critical infrastructure by members of members of his Association in the State, noting that “we always liaise with the security agencies and community leaders before transacting on scrap metals”.
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