Waste pickers under the aegis of the National Association of Scrap and Waste Pickers of Nigeria (NASWON) have lamented that they face many challenges and stigmatization while pursuing their legitimate means of livelihood.
They, therefore, appealed to the government at all levels and the people to stop looking down on them.
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National Coordinator of NASWON, Comrade Friday Oku, made the appeal in an interview with Daily Trust in Lagos in commemoration of the International Waste Pickers’ Day.
The waste pickers’ day is to honour 11 waste pickers that were murdered in the Columbian University 30 years ago (1992), on the pretext to supply them with recyclable materials while their bodies were used for medical research and organ trafficking.
“We send our solidarity and compassion to all waste pickers in Nigeria and the world over. No more killing of waste pickers and we should not be looked down on, threatened, stigmatized or victimized while doing our lawful duties of waste picking,” he said.
The coordinator called for the expeditious consideration of the legislation guaranteeing free movement of waste pickers in order to stop their arrest and harassment.
He said, “Today in Nigeria, through the help of the waste pickers, our environment is systematically becoming cleaner, saner, healthier and safer for human habitation, thereby reducing the rate of disease spread, and increasing the life expectancy of our teeming population.”
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