Nigeria expands forest guard program, 9,000 trainees across 10 states

The Federal Government of Nigeria has broadened the Presidential Forest Guards Initiative to ten states, training more than 9,000 personnel to enhance security in forested and other ungoverned areas exploited by kidnappers, bandits and other criminal groups. The latest phase includes training of over 2,000 guards in Kaduna, Edo and Kogi states, building on earlier graduations of more than 7,000 guards in Borno, Sokoto, Yobe, Adamawa, Niger, Kwara and Kebbi.

The programme is coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser and implemented under the operational leadership of the Department of State Services, with participation from the National Intelligence Agency, Defence Headquarters, Nigeria Police Force and the National Park Service. Recruits, many drawn from communities affected by kidnapping and banditry, undergo screening, background checks and training in weapons handling, navigation, fieldcraft, patrol operations, intelligence gathering and forest protection. The initiative aims to restrict criminal movement through poorly monitored forest corridors, strengthen surveillance and improve intelligence sharing between rural communities and conventional security agencies.