By Sumaila Ogbaje
The Commander-General, Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS), Dr Joshua Osatimehin, says that arming the forest security operatives will be game changer in the security landscape of the nation.
Osatimehin made this known while speaking to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, following his operational tour of the six geopolitical zones.
He called on the governors of the 36 states to consider adopting and incorporating the operatives of NFSS to boost security in their states.
He commended the governors of Ebonyi and Anambra state for recruiting more youths in the states’ security apparatus, adding that positive results were being recorded in the states.
Osatimehin said that Enugu had also achieved some successes, urging the governor to partner with NFSS to achieve more.
“They have done well, and we want NFSS to be part of this success story.
“Ebonyi recruited 2,600 youth into this organisation last year, and you know that Ebonyi State is relatively peaceful in the entire southeast.
“It is an evidence that recruiting our men into national security will ensure sustainability in the southeast and it will be a good addition for the government.
“Also, I visited the government of Anambra to appreciate him for what he had done to us.He also recruited some officers across the 21 local governments in the state.
According to him, his team was in Enugu to also appeal for his members to be co-opted and incorporated into the state internal security.
The CG said the men of the NFSS had been undergoing series of training from the police, DSS, civil defence, NDLEA, as well as the National Park Service.
He assured that there would be no abuse or misuse of arms when given to the operatives of the service because of the adequate training they had received from the relevant security agencies.
“I want to assure you, as soon as our asset is given and we are properly mobilised, we are going to reduce crime and criminality in the forested area.
“The South East has 95 local governments amd we have already have the map and studied the forest linkages in the region.
“So we know all these forest linkages and interconnectivities of operation for these criminals.
“We are going to use our local knowledge of the terrain to arrest them and the knowledge of the local science,” he said.
Osatimehin said the service was also ready to play a role in ridding the North West of insecurity being one of the epicentres of insecurity in Nigeria with almost 261 international border points.
He said that NFSS already has about 12,000 men ready to synergise with relevant authorities to reduce forest crime in the zone.
He urged the governor of Kaduna State to support NFSS with logistics in tandem with his mandate to ensure that peace and security reigns in Kaduna. (NAN)
