Borno loses billions in infrastructure to metal scavenging — Zulum
By Ndahi Marama, Maiduguri Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, has said the state has lost infrastructure, electrical materials and metals worth billions of naira to metal scavengers, known in Hausa as Ajakuta.…
Borno State has spent much of the past decade rebuilding roads, bridges, power infrastructure and public buildings damaged by years of Boko Haram insurgency, often with support from the federal government and international donors. Metal scavenging, known locally in Hausa as "Ajakuta," involves the stripping and sale of metal components — including electrical cables, transformer parts, street signs, and structural materials — often for scrap value, and has long been a challenge in conflict-affected and reconstruction zones across northern Nigeria.
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum's comments highlight a recurring tension between informal scrap-metal trading, which provides livelihoods for some residents, and the state's efforts to protect costly public assets. Both Vanguard and Tribune Online report the governor's billions-of-naira loss estimate and his description of the scale of the problem, though neither outlet's coverage details specific enforcement measures, a breakdown of the financial losses, or how the state intends to curb the practice going forward.