BY MUHAMMAD M. ALI, JANUARY 08, 2026 | 10:58 PM
By the banks of River Gadabul in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, scrap dealers burn discarded refrigerators, air conditioners to recover copper and other valuable parts, sending smoke laden with toxic metals across nearby homes, farms and water sources.
Children swim in the river as plastic casings, wires and insulation foam smoulder nearby. Sugarcane vendors operate within metres of the fires. There are no warning signs, protective equipment or visible enforcement officers.
Residents say the open burning is part of an informal recycling economy that feeds international supply chains while exposing local communities to hazardous waste.
“Some things cannot be sold unless you burn them,” one scrap dealer said. The smoke, he added, comes from plastics, rubber and electronic components, much of which settles into the river.
Picture Showing Scrap Collector Burning Cables at River Gadabul
For families living near the river, exposure is routine. “Every few months someone falls sick with fever or headaches,” said Tijjani Isa, a resident. “When the wind blows, the smell is very strong. It is nylon, rags, iron and rubber all mixed together.”
Picture Showing Communities around River Gadabul
Despite the risks, the riverbank has become a shared economic and social space. Children swim, traders sell food and scrap dealers work in full view, underscoring a public health risk unfolding without intervention.
Scrap as Survival
Kasuwan Kwankwan, one of Maiduguri’s main scrap markets, employs hundreds of young men dismantling used appliances and electronics. Refrigerators are stripped for compressors, air conditioners for copper wiring and generators for engines and coils. What cannot be sold is burned or dumped.
Picture Showing Burning Unsellable E-Waste in River Gadabul Area
“Everything now is money,” said Bukar Mala, a scrap dealer. “From a refrigerator, you get a compressor, wires and more. We take them to Kano and from there to companies.”
Workers dismantle electronics by hand, without gloves, masks or protective boots. Cuts are common. “We are used to wounds,” Bukar said. “When we get injured, we go for tetanus injections.”
Picture Showing Component of Air Conditioner Dismantled at Kasuwan Kwankwan
Workers dismantle scrap with bare hands—without gloves, masks, or protective boots.
Phones, Parts, and Global Routes
At Bulunkutu GSM Village, nearly every mobile phone component has resale value. Dead batteries sell for 200–300 naira, while cracked screens are weighed and priced by kilogram.
Ahmad Musa, a former phone technician turned scrap trader, said most materials leave the state. “We buy every phone component, including dead phones. We dismantle them. Most of the scrap goes to Kano, and from Kano our dealers take them to China,” he said.
Picture Showing Scrap Phones Accessories are Dismantled and Sold in Bulunkutu GSM Market
Technicians say many phones arriving in Maiduguri, often sold as “London use”, are already defective or near the end of their lifespan. “Sometimes batteries swell and release a strong odour,” said Alhaji Audu, a technician.
Picture Showing Audu's Demonstration of Faulty London Used Phones
Market officials say informal measures exist. Ibrahim Abdullahi, a case officer of the Bulunkutu GSM Market Association, said cleaners collect waste daily and dump it in bins provided by the state sanitation agency, and some traders have received basic fire safety training.
A National Crisis, Felt Inland
Nigeria imports large volumes of used electronics as millions of households cannot afford new appliances. About 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty, according to official estimates.
Around 500,000 metric tonnes of used electrical and electronic equipment enter Nigeria each year. The United Nations Global E-waste Monitor estimates the country generated about 500,000 metric tonnes of e-waste in 2022, the highest in West Africa and the third-highest in Africa.
While Lagos has drawn international attention for informal recycling hubs, the movement and processing of e-waste once it travels inland to cities such as Maiduguri is poorly documented and lightly regulated.
Medical Evidence: What Burning E-Waste Does to the Body
Dr Dikko Nasir, a physician at the Specialist Hospital Maiduguri, said burning electronic waste releases hazardous substances including lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, chromium, nickel and manganese.
“These substances enter the body through inhalation, skin contact or contaminated food and water,” Nasir said. “The immediate effects are respiratory; coughing, fever and shortness of breath. With prolonged exposure, this can lead to asthma, chronic lung disease and even lung cancer.”
He said toxins can circulate through the bloodstream, damaging the heart and kidneys and increasing the risk of hypertension and chronic kidney disease. Skin contact can cause dermatitis, while eye exposure can result in conjunctivitis. “Depending only on tetanus injections is not protection,” Nasir said. “The major risk is inhalation and long-term exposure.”
Children are especially vulnerable, he added, and in pregnant women toxic substances can cross the placenta, affecting fetal development.
The practices observed in Maiduguri persist despite Nigeria’s legal and international obligations.
Nigeria is a signatory to the Bamako Convention, Africa’s legally binding treaty banning the importation, dumping and unsafe handling of hazardous waste, including electronic waste. Nationally, the Electrical and Electronic Sector Regulations Act of 2022 prohibits open burning and requires safe collection and recycling under an extended producer responsibility framework.
Yet electronic waste is openly burned along River Gadabul, with no visible enforcement or tracking.
Scrap moves informally from Borno to Kano and onward to international markets, while nearby communities absorb the health and environmental costs.
Children are particularly vulnerable, he added. In pregnant women, toxic substances can cross the placenta and interfere with the brain and organ development of unborn babies. The strong odour reported by residents has a medical explanation: when metals combine with oxygen during burning, they form metal oxides that produce sharp, irritating smells.
Picture Showing Children Swimming at a Section of River Gadabul
Picture Showing Sugarcane Sold in the River Gadabul Area
Laws on Paper, Toxic Smoke on the Ground
What is unfolding in Maiduguri is happening despite Nigeria’s legal and international commitments on hazardous waste.
Nigeria is a signatory to the Bamako Convention, Africa’s legally binding treaty that prohibits the importation, dumping, and unsafe handling of hazardous waste, including electronic waste, within the continent.
The convention was designed to prevent Africa from becoming a dumping ground for toxic materials and to ensure that hazardous waste is managed in an environmentally sound manner.
At the national level, Nigeria also enacted the Electrical and Electronic Sector Regulations Act (EEE Act) 2022, which bans open burning of electronic waste, mandates safe collection and recycling, and places responsibility on producers and importers under the Extended Producer Responsibility framework.
Yet, along the banks of River Gadabul, electronic waste is openly burned, dismantled, and dumped—with no visible enforcement, tracking, or health safeguards. Scrap flows informally from Borno to Kano and onward to international markets, while communities remain exposed to toxic smoke and contaminated water.
The contrast between Nigeria’s commitments on paper and practices on the ground raises a stark question: are e-waste laws being enforced or merely signed?
Government Policy and Blind Spots - Borno Officials Speak
In July 2023, Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum banned metal scavenging, citing infrastructure theft and security concerns. A multi-agency committee was later set up to review and regulate the sector.
Scrap activities continue
Juliana Bitrus, permanent secretary at the Borno State Ministry of Environment, said the government was not aware of e-waste burning but had established a task force with the state environmental agency to address improper waste disposal.
Alex Mangwiro, regional coordinator for chemicals, waste and air quality at the United Nations Environment Programme and programme management officer for the Bamako Convention, said Nigeria’s e-waste crisis increasingly affects inland states.
“E-waste impacts are often assumed to be confined to ports and major cities,” Mangwiro said. “In reality, environmental and health risks are increasingly borne by inland communities where oversight is weakest.”
He said open burning leads to ecosystem damage, loss of recoverable materials and rising health-care costs, and urged stronger enforcement, safer recycling systems and better data on e-waste flows.
Along River Gadabul, the smoke rising from burned electronics highlights how global demand for recoverable materials collides with weak enforcement, leaving communities far from Nigeria’s ports to pay the toxic price
This story is produced with support from the Bamako Convention Secretariat in partnership with Journalists for Human Rights (JHR).
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