Commander General (CG) of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service ( NHFSS), Dr. Wole Joshua Osatimehin, has briefed the Minister of Environment and Ecological Management, Alhaji Balarabe Abbas Lawal, on activities of the Service, saying the major mandate of the organisation was to protect the nation’s forests from being used by unscrupulous elements to commit crimes.

He spoke during a courtesy visit to the minister in Abuja, noting that contrary to misconceptions in some quarters, operatives of the Service were not involved in the traditional hunting and killing of animals, but committed to the protection and conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem, which criminals also destroy in their nefarious activities.

Osatimehin also informed the minister that the name of the organisation had been changed to Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS), in compliance with the letters of the bill being tidied up by the National Assembly, adding that Section 24, Subsection 17 of the Bill directed that all traditional hunter bodies were to be subsumed into the Nigerian Forest Security Service.

He said the physical paraphernalia of the Service would be corrected after the bill had been passed by the National Assembly, and assented to by the President.

The Commander General told the minister that security in Nigeria’s forest and other ungoverned areas was crucial in achieving economic and social gains that abound in the environment, especially in the forested areas of the country.

He said the Service was set up to play complimentary role, alongside the police, Military, Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and other major security organisations in clamping down on criminals through intelligence gathering and sharing, as well as physical confrontation of criminal elements with the aim of preventing them from using the forests as safe havens to perpetuate all kinds of crime, including terrorism, kidnapping, banditry and separatism.

He said though the foundation membership of the group was from hunters, the Service had migrated from traditional hunting to the identification, pursuit and arrest of criminals operating from and within the forests, adding that their grassroots spread, robust and fearless capabilities are added advantage in carrying out their duties and operations in the difficult forest areas.

He informed the minister that about 12.2.per cent of Nigeria’s geographical landmass, which is about 11,089,000 hectares of land, is forested. Of this space, he observed that 2.9 per cent or about 326,000 hectares is classified as primary forest, which he submitted, is the most biodiverse form of forest.

He therefore, stressed that the country’s forested area is vast and rich enough to support economic growth through agriculture, tourism, mining and solid minerals, as well as other environmental activities that could boost the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) , adding that huge economic gains wouldaccrue to the nation through dedicated and efficient security in the forested areas of the country.

Osatimehin emphasised that with the presence of dedicated security service in the forests, environmentally harmful activities like illegal logging, poaching of animals, bush burning and other negative activities that have destabilised the natural equilibrium of the environment would also be curtailed, and assured that Nigeria will be a better place among the comity of nations that had set up relevant structures for environmental sustainability to reduce global warming in line with global climate change protocols.

Earlier in his welcome address, the minister expressed readiness to support the vision of the management of the Nigerian Forest Security Service, stating that he had always opposed anything that has to do with killing of animals and other creatures living in their natural habitats through gaming, poaching and other activities that have caused the depletion of various natural species of the forest.

He agreed with the NFSS management team that Nigeria needed additional security body specifically dedicated to fighting crimes and criminalities in the forested areas and praised the vision of the Senate and the House of Representatives in renaming the Nigeria Forest and Security Service, as according to him, securing the forest would help to protect the country’s ecosystem as well as conserve the environment.