The Federal Government has expanded the Presidential Forest Guards Initiative to 10 states, with more than 9,000 personnel now trained to help secure forests and other ungoverned spaces used by kidnappers, bandits and other criminal groups.
The Office of the National Security Adviser disclosed this in a statement on Friday, saying the latest phase of the programme covers Kaduna, Edo and Kogi states, where over 2,000 forest guards have completed training and are set to be deployed to identified security flashpoints.
The initiative is coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser and implemented under the operational leadership of the Department of State Services, with support from the National Intelligence Agency, Defence Headquarters, the Nigeria Police Force and the National Park Service.
According to the statement, the programme is being implemented in partnership with participating state governments to improve security in forests, border communities and other ungoverned spaces exploited by criminal elements.
The latest deployment follows the earlier training and graduation of more than 7,000 forest guards in Borno, Sokoto, Yobe, Adamawa, Niger, Kwara and Kebbi states.
The ONSA said many of the recruits were drawn from communities heavily affected by kidnapping, banditry and other security threats because of their familiarity with forests, footpaths, rivers, remote settlements and routes linking communities and states.
“The Presidential Forest Guards Initiative has been expanded to 10 states, with over 9,000 personnel trained to help secure forests and other areas used by kidnappers, bandits and armed groups.
