President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a new security outfit – The Forest Guard of Nigeria.
This was disclosed Wednesday by Sunday. Dare, the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media and Public Communications on his official X account.
The forest guards are to take charge of 1,129 forests to combat terrorists and bandits while the NSA is directed to oversee full implementation, starting with the recruitment of the guards.
“The President also directed that the forest guards be well-trained and armed to carry out their primary duty of flushing out terrorists and other criminals hiding in the forests for illegal activities. Recruitment is a collaborative security effort between the federal and state governments,” Sunday Dare wrote.
“The Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Ministry of Environment have been tasked with overseeing and ensuring the full implementation of the initiative.
“Thousands of young Nigerians are expected to be employed as personnel of the newly established outfit.”
President Tinubu had earlier warned terrorists that his administration “would not surrender an inch of the country’s territory to terrorists, bandits, and other criminal gangs operating inside the forests.”
He vowed that Nigeria “would take back its forests.”
ogbomosoinsightonline.com recalls that members of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) have made several overtures to the Federal Government to convert the body into the Nigeria Forest Guard Services (NFGS).
They explained the move would help in safeguarding ungoverned territories and bolstering the nation’s economic development.
They argued the conversion would l be a powerful solution to kidnapping, banditry, and other crimes committed in Nigeria’s forests, bushes, and ungoverned territories.