FOREST GUARDS AND INSECURITYIf well-trained and armed, the guards can make a difference

In response to deep security concerns associated with the country’s vast forests, President Bola Tinubu launched the Presidential Forest Guards Initiative barely a year ago. Some 7,000 trained guards were deployed across Northern states of Borno, Sokoto, Yobe, Adamawa, Niger, Kwara, and Kebbi to secure the forest reserves and flush out terrorists and kidnappers. Following a renewed wave of kidnappings involving over 80 schoolchildren and teachers in Borno and Oyo States, the President announced the recruitment and deployment of additional 1,000 forest guards to take out criminals from Oyo forests. But many are raising questions about the operational efficiency of these forest guards.

 Established under the strategic direction of the National Security Adviser in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, the Nigerian Forest Guard is essentially out to protect the forests from criminal activities. Unlike traditional forest rangers focused on conservation, the guards are supposed to be well-trained, armed and work in tandem with other security agencies including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). “The forest guards are not merely individuals in uniform,” said the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu at the graduation ceremony last December. “They serve as first responders, community protectors and crucial elements of Nigeria’s security framework. Their role will be pivotal in ensuring safety, gathering intelligence and assisting other security agencies in reclaiming territories seized by criminals.” To do this effectively, they are also required to collaborate with the Nigerian Hunter and Forest Security Service (NHFSS), renamed the Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS), to leverage knowledge of local hunters who are familiar with the local environment.

Unfortunately, even if it is still in infancy, the impact of the forest guards is hardly felt across the country. Many of the country’s 1,129 forest and reserves are still under the control of terrorists and kidnappers, who have continued to use them as bases to launch attacks on homes, travellers and schools.  As security forces pile pressure on reserves and forests in the Northwest and Northeastern states, many of the terrorists are shifting and invading the forests in the North-central and southern parts of the country, using them to unleash terror day and night. They are camping out in places like the Kainji National Park, Old Oyo National Park, and others.

Today, every Nigerian seems to be living in terror spaces daily, as no time is safe, and no place is sacred. Only last week, former Military spokesman Major General Rabe Abubakar (rtd) died after two weeks in captivity, perhaps in the Rugu Forest along Katsina–Zamfara axis, one of the bandits-infested strongholds in the Northwest.  

In the aftermath of intense rural insecurity, and the Oriire kidnap incident in Oyo, many states are establishing localised forest guard units to curb activities of criminal gangs.  Kaduna State, where communities in the Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Kajuru, Giwa and Kachia local government areas have suffered devastating attacks by bandits, has readily embraced the initiative. So is Kwara where the guards were reportedly deployed in Kaiama, Edu, Patigi, Ifelodun and Ekiti local government areas, all security flashpoints where residents have repeatedly faced threats from kidnappers and other armed groups. Perhaps its deadliest incident occurred in September 2025 when armed attackers invaded Oke-Ode in Ifelodun local government area, killing no fewer than 12 forest guards and vigilantes.

 There is no doubt that the forest guards’ initiative, in collaboration with the security agencies, can help in containing the all-pervasive security challenge. Kenya’s wildlife and forest rangers significantly disrupted Al-Shabaab access to forested border corridors, while Indonesia’s forest police units played a critical role in neutralising extremist cells in dense terrain. If well-equipped, the forest guards can make a difference.