In view of the nation’s security challenges, a human rights group, Yoruba Emancipation Union (YEU) Worldwide, has backed President Bola Tinubu’s Armed Forest Security Guard initiative to remove the security blight.
A statement signed by its chairman, Prof. EFG Ajayi, and secretary, Pastor Agbebi Joel Ademola, made available to LEADERSHIP in Osogbo on Sunday, commended President Tinubu for the initiative.
When fully operational, the group believed that the guards would not only flush out armed criminals from our forests but also secure them from criminal elements and their sponsors.
The group appealed to South West governors and Houses of Assemblies to urgently develop Armed Forest Guard Laws, which would aim to expel people with criminal tendencies from the forests and ensure forest conservation and sustainable management.
“The policy as initiated shall also secure mineral resources and our forest trees and animals from exploiters who use marauders to condone forests and cover up their nefarious activities.
“Their activities have caused our governments and people losses of huge revenue from illegal miners of gold, uranium, lithium, etc, from these forests. If well implemented, this policy will no doubt remove these ugly trends, the insecurities, economic, social dislocations and human crises”.
The group, however, recommended that with the herculean tasks ahead and the high unemployment rate, a Certificate, Diploma, and a First university degree should be the minimum educational qualifications for employment as forest guards and recruited officers must be trained as combatants.
