Residents demand ban on scavenging activities in Nigeria, lamenting night level criminal activities of scavengers – Royal Times of Nigeria.

The attention of the Kwara State Government and all security agencies has been drawn to the recent activities of manual scavengers in the state and Nigeria, for which some residents have called for a ban on manual scavenging activities in Kwara State.

Some of the residents our senior correspondent Olarotimi Oshin spoke to said they had lost their small generators, vehicle parts, food items, charcoal stove clothes, water iron pipes and other valuables to scavengers known as “mai called “speak”.

Mary Adekunmi, a homemaker, said the menace of manual scavengers is becoming more and more of a concern. He said the matter has now reached a point where residents wash their clothes and sit outside watching them until they dry as it can be risky to take their eyes off them.

Other residents expressed regret that the scavengers who come to their premises ostensibly to collect garbage but end up stealing other items. He alleged that manual scavengers have also been linked to various anti-social activities such as burglary, pickpocketing and molestation of children and women in desolate premises and neighbourhoods.

Respondents concluded that it is now risky to leave valuables on balconies as criminals masquerading as mobile dumpsters can get away with properties.