Making fortunes from demolition sites

By Fredrick Okopie

It was a case of one man’s misfortune being another man’s blessing at the Ifesowapo Iron Market, along the Lagos-Badagry expressway, at Orile Iganmu.

While affected business owners are still counting their losses weeks after the Lagos State government demolished buildings, shops and markets along the road to pave way for  construction work to proceed on the planned 10 lanes road project, an army of scavengers has descended on the place and reaping fortunes from there.

Scavengers at work at a road construction site

The scavengers  are making money selling metal scraps they pick from there. When Vanguard Metro visited many of the scavengers even ventured beyond the areas marked as danger zones by construction giant, Julius Berger.

They were made up mostly of young men and even minors who were not scared to risk their lives and limbs to get what they wanted.

As the excavator was digging out rubbles mixed with sand to sandfill some sections of the road, it exposed a deep, muddy trench with rusted irons from broken culverts. Whenever the excavator made a plunge to scoop out debris, more irons and shrapnels were brought out.

These became the targets of the 15  adult and kid scavengers who immediately engaged in a fierce struggle to grab the biggest among the pieces of iron.

Scavengers at work at a road construction site

One of them with a tribal mark suggesting that he is from the Northern part of the country did what some onlookers considered as unthinkable by climbing on top of a tipper while the excavator was still unloading it. Efforts by officials of Julius Berger to discourage them proved abortive.

Among them were three youngsters who  told Vanguard Metro why they are engaged in this means of survival.

One of them was bare-footed, nine-year-old Samuel and the eldest child in his family who spoke in Pidgin English. Samuel informed that he got N50 for the piece of iron he was able to pick that day. Asked what he did with the money he said: “I don go give my mama for house”.

Jide, 11, was not as lucky as Samuel. He found it difficult speaking because he had not eaten that morning. But when Vanguard Metro gave him N30 for his lunch, his friends shouted:  “He don chop O; you see am, lie lie”.

But this encouraged him to tell his story.  “I sleep outside every day. My father married another woman, so my mother was angry with him; because of that she  drove me and my brother out of the house.

But my brother has gone to Abeokuta with one of our Aunty.” On Why he was not in school, he said: “Our school has been destroyed by the government, but I could not go to the school they relocated me to”.

Another youngster, who called himself Blessing, 13, has a grouse against officials of Julius Berger.  “They tell us not to pick iron, but if the iron is very big, they collect settlement (bribe) before allowing you to pick   it,” he alleged.