FOREST GUARDS ESTABLISHED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
To tackle rising insecurity, President Bola Tinubu has approved a national forest guard system and the recruitment of over 130,000 armed operatives to protect Nigeria’s 1,129 forest reserves.
Approved at Monday’s expanded Federal Executive Council meeting, the plan requires each state to recruit 2,000–5,000 guards, depending on capacity. Recruitment and training will be overseen by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Ministry of Environment.
Averaging 3,500 recruits per state, including the FCT, the initiative aims to deploy at least 130,000 personnel. This was announced Wednesday by Presidential Media Adviser, Sunday Dare, via a statement titled “Forest Guards Established by Federal Government.”
It reads, “President Tinubu has approved the establishment of forest guards and comencement of their employment to secure the 1,129 forests in the country.
“The President directed that the forest guards are to be well trained and armed to perform their duties, which is essentially to flush out terrorists and criminal gangs hiding inside the forests for criminal activities. This recruitment is a security collaborative effort between the federal and state governments.
“The office of the NSA and the Ministry of Environment have been directed to take charge and ensure full implementation.
“Thousands of young Nigerians are expected to be employed as personnel of the outfit.
President Tinubu had warned terrorists that his administration would not surrender an inch of the country’s territory to terrorists, bandits, and other criminal gangs operating inside the forests. President Tinubu vowed that the country would take back its forests.”