Tinubu Mobilises Forest Guards in Bold Anti‑Kidnapping, Anti‑Terror Push

In a decisive escalation of Nigeria’s Security Strategy, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate training, arming, and Nationwide deployment of Forest Guards in a bid to crush the growing wave of kidnapping, banditry, and terrorist activity that have plagued rural and forested areas across the Country.

The directive, issued through a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, tasks the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to lead the mobilisation in coordination with relevant ministries and state authorities to deploy forest guards across all of Nigeria’s forest and game reserves.

President Tinubu emphasized the urgency and seriousness of the initiative, stating, “We face challenges of kidnapping and terrorism here and there. We need all the forces we can muster. We need to protect our people and our forests.”

Under the renewed plan, the forest guard corps, once largely unarmed and focused on environmental protection, will be equipped with weapons and integrated into the Nation’s broader security architecture working alongside the Police, Military, and other Agencies to reclaim forest reserves long exploited as hideouts by criminals.

The move comes amid mounting public pressure for stronger action: Nigeria’s forests – 1,129 reserves in all – have increasingly served as safe havens for terrorists, kidnappers, and bandits; the Government argues that deploying forest guards can deny these criminal elements their refuge, especially in remote and previously hard‑to‑reach areas.

However, some security analysts caution that success depends heavily on proper training, coordination, and arming. Without these, forest guards many drawn from Local Communities risk being outmatched by better‑armed, more organized criminal gangs.

What This Means for Nigeria

• The mobilisation represents a significant shift: forest guards will now take on active roles akin to paramilitary forces instead of traditional forestry duties.
• With Police and Military stretched thin across multiple hotspots, the new deployment aims to expand security presence into rural and forest zones – potentially improving early warning and rapid response in remote Areas.
• The success or failure of this policy will likely hinge on how well these forest guards are trained, armed, and coordinated with existing Security Agencies.