Boko Haram killed 55 scrap metal collectors in Borno – Police
Boko Haram insurgents have killed at least 55 scrap metal collectors in the last three weeks in Borno State.
The state’s Commissioner of Police, Abdu Umar, disclosed this to journalists on the sideline of a security stakeholders’ meeting held on Saturday in Maiduguri.
The meeting was attended by senior officers from the police, Nigerian Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and Department of State Security (DSS) among others.
It was convened to proffer a solution to the incessant attacks on scrap metal collectors in the state.
Umar said the insurgents killed 32 scrap metal collectors at Modu village in Kala-Balge Local Government Area of the state while 23 others were felled by the assailants’ bullets at Mukdala village of Dikwa LGA.
He said the victims sneaked into the forests, located about 25 kilometres from the towns without informing the security agencies to collect scrap metal.
The CP added that Governor Babagana Zulum had directed security agencies to adopt proactive measures on the killings.
Umar said: “The state government is working on a plan to check these activities.
“This is because the government has had a bad experience where infrastructure and individual vehicles, especially in liberated communities, are being vandalised by scrap metal collectors.
“And it is surprising that the unions said none of the victims in Kala Balge and Dikwa were their members.
“The government is really concerned about the welfare and safety of every citizen. It has set up a committee to check these activities with a view to fashioning out ways to forestall future occurrences.”