Across Nigeria, state governments are speeding up plans to station forest guards in woodland areas as kidnappings and armed raids tied to bandits escalate.

The move is backed by the Presidential Forest Guards Initiative approved by President Bola Tinubu in May 2025. The plan targets over 1,100 forest reserves nationwide that security reports say have become operational bases for abductors and arms smugglers.

Progress varies by state. Kebbi State passed out 819 trained guards after a 9-week course in Kalgo LGA. Deputy Governor Umar Tafida said they were sent straight to vulnerable forest routes to block criminals from using reserves as hideouts, and he urged village heads to share local intelligence.

In Gombe, roughly 700 recruits are undergoing advanced training at the Mobile Police School in Osun. Their focus is surveillance, data gathering and securing forest borders. Last December, seven pilot states — Adamawa, Borno, Kebbi, Kwara, Niger, Sokoto and Yobe — graduated more than 7,000 guards after three months of tactical drills.

National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu explained the guards will complement police, military and DSS operations. Beyond fighting crime, they’re also tasked with protecting wildlife and restoring state presence in hard-to-reach areas. Each state is expected to hire between 2,000 and 5,000 guards, aiming for over 130,000 across the country.

Analysts note that recruiting locals gives the new force critical knowledge of terrain and escape routes. The challenge now, they say, is equipping the teams properly and aligning them with regional outfits like Amotekun for better coordination.

Source: Punch news.