Buni warns metal scavengers to desist from importing to make IEDs
BY Tada Juthan
The Yobe State special adviser to Governor Mai Mala Buni on security matters, Brig-Gen. Dahiru Abdulsalam (rtd), has warned metal scavengers and other related iron scraps to desist from importing them into the state.
Abdulsalam raised the alarm on Wednesday in Damaturu in a statement released to journalists on the current state of security for lives and property.
According to him, the metal scraps are largely used along with fertilisers to fabricate various improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists.
He listed the imported scraps in the state to include abandoned metals, disused iron rods, and aluminium roofing sheets at construction project sites.
Consequently, he said the warning became necessary following the detonation of an abandoned unexploded ordnance at the recent Buni/Yadi cattle market in the state.
He explained that the metal scraps were collected from Sambisa Forest and used in the manufacture of IEDs in Goniri to attack people.
Abdulsalam, therefore, urged members of the public to report any suspicious objects or movements of persons in their communities.
Meanwhile, the military Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit is working around the clock to explode possible devices that might have been abandoned during the 15-year insurgency.
