Africa-Press – Nigeria. The Federal Government is set to deploy 7,000 forest guards in seven pilot states
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, disclosed this Saturday in Yola, Adamawa State, at a graduation ceremony of the guards who had been on training.
“We are fully aware of Nigerians’ concerns about insecurity across the country. Accordingly, the newly trained Forest Guards will be deployed immediately to all the beleaguered communities in the highlighted states, particularly around forested and ungoverned spaces,” the NSA said.
He explained that the guards are expected to gather actionable human intelligence, support ongoing security operations, and restore state presence where it has long been absent.
“Trainees underwent extensive physical and mental conditioning, including endurance exercises, obstacle-crossing drills, and long-range patrol simulations to prepare them for sustained forest operations,” he said.
The forest guards reached the stage of graduation after they completed an intensive three-month training programme in the seven pilot states of Adamawa, Bomo, Kwara, Kebbi, Niger, Sokoto, and Yobe.
The NSA recalled that the trainees were mobilized under the Presidential Forest Guards initiative, launched by President Bola Tinubu in May this year as a joint effort between the federal and state governments.
The training instructors and coordinators were drawn from the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the National Park Service, and the National Intelligence Agency.
The mandate of the Forest Guards is essentially to tackle bandits, insurgents, terrorists, and other criminal elements that are exploiting Nigeria’s vast, ungoverned forest spaces.
According to the NSA, the pilot phase of the forest guards rollout provides a solid foundation for a nationwide deployment after more guards are accordingly recruited.
“As we speak, processes have commenced to train new batches across additional states, ensuring rapid expansion and comprehensive national coverage,” the NSA disclosed.
In his own remark, the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, advised the forest guards to see heir assignment as a call to service in which they are to treat residents with civility.
For More News And Analysis About Nigeria Follow Africa-Press
