FG ESTABLISHES 130,000 NEW NATIONAL GUARDS TO SECURE FORESTS

Meanwhile, in an effort to stem the rising insecurity across Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a national forest guard system following the resolution at the expanded Federal Executive Council meeting on Monday. He also ordered the recruitment of over 130,000 armed operatives to secure the country’s 1,129 forest reserves. The recruitment and training will be supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Ministry of Environment. To be supervised by the Office of the NSA and the Ministry of Environment, each state is expected to recruit between 2,000 and 5,000 heavily-armed and well-trained forest guards, depending on its financial capacity. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said the president directed that the forest guards be well-trained and armed to flush out terrorists and criminal gangs hiding in the forests for criminal activities. Nigeria has over 1,129 forest reserves, making it one of the African countries with a large number of gazetted forest areas. Though about 11 states have operationalised forest guards, the current plan is to arm and upscale the guards for national security.

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