President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment and deployment of armed forest guards across the country as part of a bold move to reclaim Nigeria’s vast forestlands from criminal elements and strengthen national security.
The initiative, unveiled on Wednesday night by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, seeks to drive terrorists, kidnappers, and other criminal gangs out of Nigeria’s 1,129 forest zones, which have become notorious hideouts in recent years.
Dare, in a statement posted on his verified X handle @SundayDareSD, said the new forest guard corps would be professionally trained and fully armed, with recruitment to be jointly undertaken by federal and state governments.
The implementation will be coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Federal Ministry of Environment, in what is being described as a multi-layered security and environmental protection initiative.
“The President directed that the forest guards be well trained and armed to flush out terrorists and criminal gangs hiding in the forests,” Dare said. “The recruitment is a joint effort between federal and state governments, while ONSA and the Ministry of Environment will oversee full implementation.”
Thousands of young Nigerians are expected to be engaged under the programme, which aligns with the administration’s push to tackle unemployment while restoring peace to Nigeria’s rural and peri-urban communities.
President Tinubu reiterated his firm resolve not to allow any part of Nigeria to remain under the control of non-state actors, declaring that “no inch of Nigerian territory will be surrendered to criminals.”
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