President Bola Tinubu has authorised the creation of a national forest guard system and directed the hiring of more than 130,000 armed personnel to protect Nigeria’s 1,129 forest reserves in an effort to reduce the country’s growing levels of insecurity.
The initiative, approved during Monday’s expanded Federal Executive Council meeting, mandates each state to recruit between 2,000 and 5,000 forest guards based on their capacity.
The recruitment and training will be supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Ministry of Environment.
A rough projection of 3,500 recruits per state translates to over 130,000 new forest guards, including those for the Federal Capital Territory.
Each state is expected to recruit at least 2,000 to 5,000 heavily-armed and well-trained forest guards, depending on its financial capacity, and the recruitment would be supervised by the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Ministry of Environment.
A rough estimate of about 3,500 recruits per state would result in the recruitment of at least 130,000 forest guards across the states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A statement released by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, on his X handle, entitled: “Forest Guards Established by Federal Government,” revealed this on Wednesday.
