Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, has directed all scrap and waste dealers across the state’s 25 local government areas to register with the government as part of efforts to sanitise the trade and curb vandalism.
This was disclosed in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, on Tuesday.
According to the statement, the governor gave the directive during a meeting with leaders of the Scrap and Waste Dealers Association, Niger State chapter, at the Government House, Minna.
It explained that the registration template would require dealers to provide their residential and business addresses, Bank Verification Numbers, and National Identification Numbers to ensure effective monitoring.
The statement read, “The state government will support them with biometric devices that will help in the registration process, maintaining that the registration is necessary to provide them with a license if they must continue to operate in the state.”
“The farmer governor also disclosed that anybody less than 18 years old is prohibited from picking scraps in the state, adding that anyone found with an item belonging to the public or private will be dealt with decisively.”
The governor noted that another meeting with the Secretary to the State Government, Usman Abubakar, had been scheduled for Thursday to inaugurate elected chairmen of the scrap and waste dealers across the 25 LGAs.
“The chairmen will be working directly with his coordinator on scrap, Abdusallam Sa’ad, with a view to halting the rising cases of vandalisation of public and private infrastructure,” it added.
The statement also quoted the governor’s Coordinator on Scraps, Abdusallam Sa’ad, as saying the registration would help sanitise the trade.
It read, “The registration of scrap dealers in the state, as directed by the state governor, will help in sanitising the members and the business, revealing that his office will provide the forms while the registration fees will be paid into a government account.”
The statement further added that the Chairman of the Scrap and Waste Dealers Association, Niger State chapter, Muhammad Ahmad Ali, read out the association’s rules and regulations, which include screening of members, provision of guarantors, visible identification, and punishment for those involved in theft.
“The meeting was interactive, as suggestions were made on how to fish out bad eggs from the genuine scrap dealers in the state,” the statement added.
