President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a national forest guard system and ordered the recruitment of over 130,000 armed operatives to secure the country’s 1,129 forest reserves.
The initiative, approved during Monday’s expanded Federal Executive Council meeting, mandates each state to recruit between 2,000 and 5,000 forest guards based on their capacity.
The recruitment and training will be supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Ministry of Environment.
According to The PUNCH, a rough projection of 3,500 recruits per state translates to over 130,000 new forest guards, including those for the Federal Capital Territory.
Each state is expected to recruit at least 2,000 to 5,000 heavily-armed and well-trained forest guards, depending on its financial capacity, and the recruitment would be supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Ministry of Environment.
A rough estimate of about 3,500 recruits per state would result in the recruitment of at least 130,000 forest guards across the states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A statement released by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, on his X handle, entitled: “Forest Guards Established by Federal Government,” revealed this on Wednesday.
“President Tinubu has approved the establishment of forest guards and commencement of their employment to secure the 1,129 forests in the country.
“The President directed that the forest guards are to be well-trained and armed to perform their duties, which is essentially to flush out terrorists and criminal gangs hiding inside the forests for criminal activities.
“This recruitment is a security collaborative effort between the federal and state governments. The office of the NSA and the Ministry of Environment have been directed to take charge and ensure full implementation.
“Thousands of young Nigerians are expected to be employed as personnel of the outfit,” the statement read.
During a recent visit to Katsina State, the President had warned that his administration would not surrender an inch of the country’s territory to terrorists, bandits, and other criminal gangs operating inside the forests and vowed that the country would take back its forests.
Nigeria has over 1,129 forest reserves, making it one of the African countries with a large number of gazetted forest areas.
These reserves vary in size and management, and most are under the control of state governments, though a few fall under federal jurisdiction, especially those within national parks or designated biosphere reserves.
Many of the reserves, however, face significant threats from illegal logging, encroachment for farming, infrastructure development and, recently, security challenges, as some now serve as criminal hideouts.
States already acting
At least 11 states have operationalised forest guards, also known as forest rangers or forest security but the plan is to arm and upscale the guards for national security efforts.
The Nigerian Hunter and Forest Security Service lists state commanders for Niger, FCT, Kogi, and Benue states, indicating their active roles in forest security.
Other states may also have their forest guard units, although their specific operations and names might vary.
“Several states already have forest guards under their agriculture ministries. The plan is to now arm and upscale them under a unified national strategy,” a Presidency source who preferred to be anonymous because he was not authorised to speak on the development stated.
The PUNCH reported on April 2, 2024, that no fewer than 10 states had begun the process of deploying forest guards to protect farmers and flush out bandits.
At President Bola Tinubu’s meeting with the governors in February 2024, the Federal Government and states agreed to recruit forest rangers and invest in more training to “keep our forests and our borders safe,” said the Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, when he briefed State House correspondents after the meeting.
The PUNCH gathered that the President asked the governors to discuss the issue of forest guards further at the state level.
Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH correspondent on the issue after the February 2024 meeting, a Presidency official who did not want to be named said, “The President told the state governors to discuss it further at the state level.
“A committee was set up for that. We have not heard from the committee yet. Don’t also forget that simultaneously, the National Assembly is considering inserting state policing in the constitution. So, there is a consensus around state policing.
“As for the forest guards, work is going on with it. There are existing forest guards in several states, but they are under the states’ ministries of agriculture. The goal now is to strengthen their capacity by arming them properly and recruiting more people.
“Still, it all falls in the hands of the states to strengthen the forest guards. That is where we are now.”
