President Bola Tinubu has approved the setting up and deployment of forest guards to bolster national security and reclaim Nigeria’s vast forestlands from criminal elements.
One of his spokespersons, Sunday Dare, announced this on Wednesday, saying the outfit has the mandate to flush out terrorists and criminals who have used Nigeria’s 1,129 forests as safe havens.
Dare, who stated this on his verified X handle, @SundayDareSD, added that the recruitment would be coordinated between the federal and state governments, with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Ministry of Environment. Being responsible for oversight.
He said Tinubu also ordered that the new forest guards be professionally trained and properly armed to meet the security challenges within the country’s forests now serving as hideouts for kidnappers, bandits, and insurgents in recent years.
Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to securing every inch of Nigerian territory, declaring that no part of the country would be abandoned to lawlessness.
