2025 Workshop: NFSS Vows To Dislodge Bandits From Forests

The Nigerian Forest Security Service, NFSS, has vowed to reclaim Nigerian forests from bandits, kidnappers, terrorists and other criminals nationwide.

The Commander General of NFSS, Dr Joshua Osatimehin made the vow during a four day National Workshop organizes for Officers and Men of NFSS particularly those in the Operations and Intelligence Departments of NFSS held at the MKO Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

Dr. Joshua Osatimehin said the workshop was to further sensitize.the participants on operations and local intelligence gathering towards complimenting the efforts of formal security agencies in securing the country’s forests.

According to him, the participants during the four days national workshop which was attended by over three thousand officers from the Operations and Intelligence Departments of NFSS featured paper presentations and lecture from the Military, DSS, Police, NSCDC, NDLEA, Immigration, Customs, Federal Ministries of Environment, Agriculture and other critical stakeholders in the nation’s security sector

“The main essence of this workshop is to further enable us synergize with the constituted authority and during the four days training, the DSS has tutored us on how to gather local intelligence around the forest corridor and the Nigeria Police has also trained us on joint operations as well as the Nigeria military on how we synergize also to make sure that we can flush out criminals from our forests nationwide”.

In his words” We the Officers and Men of NFSS have to give in our best to support President Bola Tinubu because for him to have established the Nigerian Forest Security Service shows that the citizens depend on us and we must do our best to make sure that we did not betray the confidence reposed in us by Mr President hence the need for this four days national workshop”.

“We are now using this opportunity to tell the bandits, kidnappers, boko haram, terrorists and other criminals using our forests to perpetrate evil that enough is enough because NFSS is battle ready to flush them from our forests and take our forests back from them and I must confess to you that we have the manpower and structure to deliver on that because our offices and men in all the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT as well as on the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria are combat ready for them “. the NFSS CG stated.

Dr. Joshua Osatimehin therefore used the opportunity to once again appealed to President Bola Tinubu to ensure full integration of NFSS into Nigeria’s security apparatus to enable the Service take the battle to the forests and dislodge all the criminal elements that have invaded our forests ‘.

“Nigeria has 1,129 forest reserves, 29 games reserve, and 17 National Parks as well as 417 grazing reserves and we have map out all the interconnectivity of these forest linkages because it’s our job and we’re products of local hunters and forest experts and we can use our knowledge of local terrain to combat this criminality all what we need now is for Mr President to help us to be properly and fully integrated and incorporated into National Security so that we can discharge our constitutional Mandate because Nigeria is expecting much from us and we’re ready to deliver “.

Some of the participants, Sunny Akpa and A A Ibrahim said the four days national workshop would further enhance their performance in combating forest related crimes in their various States.

While commending the Commander General of NFSS, Dr Joshua Osatimehin for his visionary leadership through the provision of regular training and retraining for officers and men of the Service, the Participants stressed the need for the support of State and Local Governments in the programme of activities of NFSS towards strengthening the fight against insecurity nationwide.

Highpoints of the four days National Workshop was the presentation of Award of Excellence to the Commander General of NFSS, Dr Joshua Osatimehin by the Lion Female Squad of the Service and CG Football Cup competition among the State Commands and the FCT where the FCT Command of NFSS won the competition.

Mathew Ayoola, Edited By Grace Namiji