Oluwole Josiah
Given the current security challenge in the country, the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS) has commence strategic training for it’s personnel across the zones of the country.
The 4-day strategic training which began on Friday is aimed at improving the capacity of the officers of the service to face the changes posed by bandits and other criminal elements terrorising the citizens.
The Training is with the theme “Integrated Multi- Agency Training on Forest Security, Environmental Protection, Legal Enforcement and Counter-Illicit Activities in Nigeria.” The training is expected to end on Monday, started on Monday, December 8 in all the zones in the country.
In a statement on Saturday, the Commander-General ( CG) of the NFSS, Osatimehin Wole, said the training is designed to enhance inter- agency cooperation, strengthen operational capabilities, and improve collective responses to the emerging security and environmental challenges within Nigeria’s Forest corridors.
The CG said that the programme would provide a comprehensive platform for knowledge exchange across military, policing, environment, agricultural, legal, and anti-narcotics domains.
The training is holding simultaneously at various zones of the country.
For North Central, the training holds in FCT, Abuja; North East- Gombe; North West – Kaduna; South East – Abia; South West- Ondo, and South South- has three zones, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and States.
Delta and Bayelsa participants will be trained in Delta while while those in Edo state would attend in Benin.
The Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS), began in 2021 as Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) as an umbrella for forest security.
It received legislative attention after a bill was passed by the Senate in April of 2022. It was jointly passed by both houses in December of the same year but the bill was not signed into law before the end of the session of the National Assembly.
The bill was immediately reintroduced and passed by the current National Assembly, and now awaits Assent by the President.
However, President Tinubu recently approved federal establishment and training for armed forest guards in May 2024 to fight forest crimes.
There are however plans to integrate the existing NFSS structure into national security efforts with state government support for recruitment and funding.