Bureaucratic hurdles and inter-agency disagreements may be slowing down the recruitment of forest guards approved by President Bola Tinubu, Sunday PUNCH has learnt. He directed each state to recruit between 2,000 and 5,000 forest guards. A senior official of the Nigeria Forest Security Service, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that the optimism generated by the presidential announcement had faded. Without trained forest guards on the ground, criminals continue to exploit these gaps.”The official also dismissed reports that recruitment had secretly commenced. He said the uncertainty had affected existing forest guards, hunters and other local security actors expected to be integrated into the scheme.

Source: Punch December 21, 2025 07:19 UTC