Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has urgently appealed to the Federal Government to protect vital assets at the Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA). In an official statement issued in Maiduguri on Sunday, 7 June 2026, Governor Zulu detailed how bad actors are attempting to sell off expensive, fully functional government machinery. 

The Borno State Government is to stop this unauthorised clearance, warning that disposing of these resources under the guise of an “unserviceable scrap metal auction” will severely damage the agricultural value chain and wipe out the state’s collective wealth.

The targeted equipment includes high-cost infrastructure such as irrigation stations, booster plants, drilling rigs, and electricity-generation facilities, alongside tractors, bulldozers, and combined harvesters. 

These assets are critical to the CBDA’s newly reconstituted mandate to scale up irrigation farming, animal husbandry, and rural livelihoods across the North-East. 

Governor Zulum noted with concern: “It has come to the attention of the Borno State Government that some unscrupulous elements are attempting to cart away the heavy equipment domiciled at the CBDA premises and booster stations across Northern Borno in the name of scrap metal auctioning”. 

“The Federal Government procured this equipment at a high cost, and it is serviceable. There is no reason whatsoever to auction them, as doing so will decapitate the CBDA and cripple the agricultural value chain in our state.”

The state government highlighted a dangerous link between public asset theft and regional insecurity, pointing out that illegal metal scavenging often funnels money into insurgent networks. 

Officials verified that rogue metal operators frequently work with or directly benefit Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters hiding in the Lake Chad Basin, Sambisa Forest, and Timbuktu Triangle. 

Allowing public infrastructure to be broken down and sold off would directly compromise national defense and undermine ongoing efforts to resettle internally displaced persons (IDPs) back into productive farming communities.

Borno’s strict ban on the scrap metal trade remains fully active to prevent criminals from using the business as a cover for vandalism. The administration clarified that rather than letting functional infrastructure be carted away, the state can refurbish these assets locally to drive long-term industrial growth. 

Governor Zulum concluded by calling on the Presidency, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, and military commanders to take immediate defensive action: 

“Therefore, I call on the Presidency and Federal Ministry of Water Resources to prevail on the LCBA to shelve the wrongful idea of auctioning equipment, assets and facilities of the CBDA”. 

“I also call on our military and law enforcement agencies to be vigilant in the CBDA area of responsibility and the state at large to ensure that our public resources are not compromised or vandalised.”

Source: The Nation Online
Image Credit: Daily Post Nigeria