… Livestock Reform To Turn Conflict Areas into Ranches
… Forest guards To Be Armed, Grazing Reserves Converted Into Ranches.
Daud Olatunji
The Federal Government has launched a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s rural-security framework following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive for the urgent revival, arming and nationwide deployment of forest guards to reclaim Nigeria’s 1,129 forest reserves long overrun by terrorists, kidnappers and bandit gangs.
Tinubu’s order, conveyed through a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, marks one of the most significant escalations of the administration’s security response, amid mounting concerns that existing structures have failed to contain widespread abductions and violent attacks across the country.
“We face challenges here and there of kidnapping and terrorism. We need all the forces we can utilise. We need to protect our people,” the President said.
He insisted that the renewed forest-guard corps would serve as a crucial frontline force in dismantling criminal enclaves hidden deep within Nigeria’s forests.
Under the rebooted initiative, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu is to immediately begin a coordinated programme of recruitment, intensive training, and strategic deployment of forest guards in partnership with state governments, intelligence units, and other security agencies.
Unlike federal forces often unfamiliar with the terrain, officials say the new system will leverage the deep knowledge of operatives drawn from local communities, enabling faster intelligence gathering, tracking of criminal movements, and disruption of hideouts.
Many of Nigeria’s forest and game reserves—including those in Kaduna, Niger, Zamfara, Plateau, Edo and Ogun, have become entrenched sanctuaries for armed gangs due to years of weak oversight, poor policing, and lack of government presence.
The renewed deployment aims to reverse this pattern and deny criminal groups access to cover, mobility and weapons routes.
Supporters of the initiative describe it as “long overdue,” with a northern security think tank praising it as proof that Tinubu is “in full charge” and willing to confront the rural insecurity that previous administrations struggled to tame.
However, security analysts warn that deploying forest guards into high-risk zones demands more than political will.
They argue that the corps ,originally created to protect wildlife and forests, has historically lacked the tactical training, weapons, and real-time intelligence required to face heavily armed criminal groups.
Without these critical resources, experts fear the initiative may become another “window-dressing exercise” rather than a transformational security strategy.
“The deployment must come with modern weapons, proper motivation and synergy with other agencies,” one security practitioner told a national newspaper, stressing that the guards must not be sent “into the lion’s den with sticks and uniforms.”
The move comes as multiple states grapple with mass kidnappings, community raids, highway ambushes and insurgent attacks that have left thousands displaced and deeply shaken confidence in the nation’s security architecture.
Many communities bordering forest belts describe these areas as “no-go zones” controlled by heavily armed groups who operate with impunity.
Tinubu’s government believes that reclaiming these forests will shut down the operational lifelines of criminal networks and restore safety in rural areas where farmers, travellers and entire communities have been targets of violence.
Security stakeholders insist that the success of the revived forest-guard system will rely on sustained funding, inter-agency coordination, and genuine intelligence-driven operations — not symbolic deployments.
For now, the administration maintains that the new strategy signals a firm commitment to reclaim the nation’s forests and break the hold of criminal groups that have terrorised citizens for years.
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