‘Scavenging at 15 is tough’

For 15-year-old Sadiq Abdul, it is not easy to fend for oneself in a big city like Lagos, so joining other young men to scavenge at refuse dumps is the only option he has.

Although very tough and risky, scavenging is the only means of survival he has.

Abdul wakes up as early as 5am, hanging from the back of a refuse truck and moving from one part of the city to another from dusk to dawn, carting away refuse dumped by the side of the road.

Abdul, who spoke through an interpreter, revealed that sometimes he earned as much as N2,000, but on a good day, he could make up to N3,000, along with other scavengers.

He said those who actually made good money from the business were collectors of recycled waste.

“I hope to become one in future so that I can send money to my mother in Bauchi. I am the only surviving son of my mother. Others died from one illness or another. I don’t want to die like them, so I came to Lagos to seek a better life for myself and two little sisters,” he said hesitantly.

He said he fell sick sometimes due to constant contact with refuse, but he usually washed his hands before eating.

At the Igando refuse dump, our correspondent learnt that although refuse collectors make good money from buying recycled items from scavengers, owners of recycling plants make huge profits.

Raman Ibrahim, one of the collectors at Igando, explained that owners of recycling plants buy waste plastics and metals at a very cheap price but make huge profits after adding value to them.

“Do you know that most of the plastic cups, plates and spoons are made from recycled plastics collected from different refuse dumps in Lagos?” He asked.

With difficulty in sourcing for foreign exchange, those in the plastic industry have resulted to the use of waste plastics collected from refuse dumps.

Findings also showed that after buying scrap metals from collectors, dealers smile to the banks after transforming and adding value to them.