Banditry: Federal Govt Trains 9,000 Additional Forest Guards, Expands Initiative Across 10 States

The Federal Government has expanded the Presidential Forest Guards Initiative to 10 states, with additional 9,000 personnel trained to help secure forests and other areas used by kidnappers, bandits, and other armed groups.

The programme, coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser and implemented under the operational leadership of the Department of State Services, involves other participating agencies, including the National Intelligence Agency, Defence Headquarters, the Nigeria Police Force, and the National Park Service.

The initiative is being implemented in partnership with participating state governments to reduce the porosity of forests, border communities, and other ungoverned spaces.

The latest phase covers Kaduna, Edo, and Kogi states, where more than 2,000 forest guards have been trained and are set for deployment to identified security flashpoints.

The exercise follows the earlier training and graduation of more than 7,000 forest guards in Borno, Sokoto, Yobe, Adamawa, Niger, Kwara, and Kebbi states.

Many of the recruits were selected from communities affected by kidnapping, banditry, and related security challenges.

They possess extensive knowledge of forests, footpaths, rivers, remote settlements, and routes connecting communities and states.

The government expects their knowledge of the terrain to improve surveillance and intelligence gathering. It is also expected to help security agencies identify routes and locations that may be difficult for personnel deployed from outside the affected communities to access.

Before their selection, the recruits underwent screening, background checks, and security vetting to confirm their identities, community records, and suitability for security duties.

They were trained in arms handling, navigation, field craft, patrol operations, intelligence gathering, and forest protection. The training was designed to combine their knowledge of the environment with the discipline and operational skills required to work within an organised security structure.

The initiative seeks to restrict the movement of criminal groups through poorly monitored forest corridors. Kidnappers and bandits often use such areas to establish camps, hide abducted victims, and move between communities, local government areas, and state boundaries.

The forest guards are also expected to strengthen intelligence sharing between rural communities and conventional security agencies. They will serve as a link between affected communities and security institutions.

The officers will be deployed to forests, remote settlements, border communities, and other areas affected by kidnapping, banditry, and related crimes. They are expected to support surveillance, early warning efforts, and intelligence-led operations by established security agencies.

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The governors of Kaduna, Edo, and Kogi states commended the Office of the National Security Adviser for coordinating the programme. They said the initiative would complement existing security arrangements and extend government presence to areas where conventional security coverage has remained limited.

The state governments also pledged to support the welfare, deployment, and operations of the guards in their respective states.

The major objective of the initiative is to restore government presence in vulnerable areas, protect rural communities, and prevent criminal groups from continuing to use Nigeria’s forests as safe havens.