INSECURITY: NFSS Boss, Osatimehin Spites Fire, Says NFSS Will Flush Out Criminals From Nigeria’s Forest
…..Nigeria has 1,129 Forest Reserves, 29 Game Reserves, and 17 National Parks
By Emmanuel Ogoigbe
UGHELLI – The Commander General of Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS), Amb. Joshua Adewole Osatimehin has expressed the readiness of the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS) to flush out bandits from Nigeria’s forests in the next three to six months.
Amb. Osatimehin gave the assurance recently in Ughelli in Ughelli North local government area during a one-day sensitization visit to the men and officers of the South-South zone covering the six states of the South-South.
According to him, Nigeria has 1,129 Forest Reserves, 29 Game Reserves, and 17 National Parks, adding that the men and officers of NFSS know all the forests in Nigeria, inter-connectivity operations of bandits and criminals operating the forests, assuring that NFSS will block their activities in no distant time.
While expressing the capability and readiness of the men and officers of NFSS to comb and flush the criminals hiding in the forests of Nigeria, he said, NFSS had the capacity, training, and experience due to its collaboration with other security agencies.
“NFSS personnel have undergone thirteen trainings in the fifteen Nigeria Police Training Schools, Civil Defence training on “Farmer and Herders clash the role of Nigeria foresters”, also trained by DSS on intelligence gathering and actionable intelligence sharing, and also trained by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and others.
The mandate of NFSS is to prevent and deter crime and illegal activities in Nigeria’s forests, partner with the police and other security agencies by providing relevant information on crimes and criminality within the forest.
“We are the ones that know the terrain, we know the forests leakage in Nigeria, we know the criminals inter-connectivities in Nigeria, we’ll block them”.
While saying that NFSS personnel will sing a new song in the next 30 days, he said, ” It is not about wearing uniform, it is about knowing the task ahead, you must be intellectually mobile and have a sound mind, proactive, tactical, and disciplined”.
Earlier, the Delta State Commander of Nigeria Forest Security Services, Amb. Jonathan Obokowhemu has called on all state governments and spirited Nigerians to come to the aid of NFSS to fight the menace of insecurity in the country.
NFSS is faced with a lot of challenges, ranging from inadequate logistics to doing the work effectively.
” We are in charge of the ungoverned space, we will work effectively if all state governments, monarchs, and community leaders can come to the aid of NFSS”.
