electronic goods to try and bridge the digital divide with the West . Watch a report showing piles of e-waste in Nigeria '' It is estimated five hundred containers of second-hand electronics are imported to Nigeria every month . It is also estimated that three-quarters of these imported products are broken beyond repair . The figures come from a US-based Environmental group -- BASEL Action Network -- who warns that the broken electronics discarded at local dumpsites are a mounting environmental disaster . At one of the local dumpsites , young boys sift through the electronic waste looking for anything of worth . Cables and wires are burnt to get at re-usable metals like copper wire , a practice which releases toxic metals and chemicals harmful to the local population . `` If you do n't control it , there will be serious contamination and exposure of large populations to heavy metals from e-waste . Because it 's a huge volume of waste we 're talking about . And it 's spreading , '' explains Oladele Osibanjo , the director for BASEL Nigeria . The irony is that many of these electronics were discarded by their original owners in the
BAUCHI , Nigeria -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The truck driver kept his hand on the horn , but resorted to shifting into first gear and used the full weight of his container truck to force his way through the over-crowded and narrow market street . In Nigeria , men burn broken computer equipment to collect reusable metals like copper . But the truck 's rattling bulk , over-charged exhaust , and zealous horn only added extra rhythm to the cacophony of hawkers , hagglers , trucks and generators . This was just one of the many deliveries this morning for the big importers of Lagos 's second-hand electronics Alaba market . `` A lot of people are interested in buying computer -- just to know what is going on in the world , '' explained Gabriel Okonkwo , as he watched his latest shipment arrive . The doors of his container were thrown open to reveal an Aladdin 's cave of second-hand treasures -- computers , stereos , printers and televisions . All were quickly passed down to a mob of eager hands , where they are quickly sold to the local electronic stores . Nigeria is desperate for cheap