Nigeria mulls establishment of ‘special forces’ to flush out bandits, kidnappers, others from forest areas

In a bid to combat the growing threats posed by bandits, kidnappers, and insurgents within its forests, the Nigerian Ministry of Environment says it is collaborating with security agencies to establish a dedicated “special force.”

This announcement, made by Environment Minister, Balarabe Abbas, on Thursday in Kaduna, underscores the escalating security concerns that have transformed Nigeria’s once peaceful forests into havens for criminal activities.

Abbas, who spoke at a two-day top management retreat organised by the ministry in Kaduna on Thursday, said the gathering was also to brainstorm on how to accelerate the clean-up of Ogoni land in the Niger Delta.

The theme of the retreat was ‘Policy embedment and prioritisation of key action for a renewed hope in environmental management.’

The decision to create a special force stems from the perceived inadequacy of the existing Forest Guards, who are currently tasked with protecting the country’s vast woodland areas.

Minister Abbas acknowledged that these guards are no longer equipped to handle the sophisticated and often violent threats now present within the forests.

Abbas said the environment ministry was determined to reclaim forests across the country that have become hibernating grounds for terrorists.

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He said, “As I had indicated and said several times, we have a very serious issue with our forests. Our forests have now become a hibernation ground for bandits, poachers and kidnappers but the only way we can save the forests and also save the communities around them is to do something drastic.

“I spoke with the President. We are going to come out with measures to get enough forces into the forests to flush these people out.

“This is an issue that is of much concern to President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government will soon set up enough forces to beef up security in the forests.

“If we don’t do that, we will find out there’s no way we can make progress in our Great Green Wall, which we are putting lots of money in, trying to fence Nigeria from the encroachment of the desserts.”

He added, “So, we need to have a strong force that will first clean the forests of insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and also clean the forest of porches that are killing our very rare animals.

“We already have Park Rangers and other forest guards but they are ineffective because the number is not there and the boots on the ground are not enough to handle the issues. They don’t have enough force to confront bandits.

”We will liaise with the military, Department of State Services, police and other security agencies to put an end to this danger. We will continue to engage with the Ministry of Defence.

“I visited the Minister of Blue Economy recently. They are thinking about Coastal Guards taking cues from America when they were bedeviled by piracy. They created Coastal Guards separate from the Navy. We are trying to do that like Kenya and Tanzania. They created a strong force but their issues were far less than ours.”

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