The Forests in Nigeria have recently been under siege by criminals who use the forest cover for their various nefarious activities. This has been generating so much concern among various stakeholders. ValidViewNetwork reports that Edo State is blessed with forests which are part of the history of the State.
As part of the activities being put in place by the Edo State Government towards protecting its forests from intruders and enhancing the security of lives and properties across the length and breadth of Edo State, the State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, asserted that the State Government under his leadership is ready and making frantic efforts towards the recruitment of new Forest Police Officers.
According to Obaseki , detail assessment, documentation and audit of the state forests is already ongoing in order to achieve this feat.
Obaseki disclosed this at a Special Security Council Meeting with relevant stakeholders in Edo South senatorial district held at the Government House in Benin-city.
Governor Obaseki as part of the renewed determination also held similar meetings with stakeholders in Edo North and Edo Central senatorial district towards ensuring that the Edo forests are protected from bandits, criminal elements and economic saboteurs.
This further Governor confirmed the readiness of the State Government to effectively partner with relevant stakeholders towards strengthening the security architecture of the State and adopting various measures to sustain security of lives and properties in the state. He reiterated that the State Government will continually make the State inhabitable from criminal elements through relevant policies and target actions.
In his words, : “The responsibility of any Government in any society is to guarantee the security and safety of the people. No government can call itself a Government if it cannot protect and secure the lives of the people that it oversees.
Stating further, Obaseki posited :
“That is why for us in Edo State, given what is going on in the country today, we have decided that security is now our number one priority. Also, we have completed documentation and audit of all our forests in Edo State, particularly in Edo South.
“We have done a complete assessment of all our forests, and as we speak, we have set up a new forestry commission. Our forestry laws that have not been updated for more than 50 years have now been updated.
By the setting up of Forestry Commission, Edo State Government becomes one of the few States to have a Forestry Commission in Nigeria. ValidViewNetwork reports that part of the strategies of the Government is to strengthen the operations of the Forest Police Officers through appropriate legislation considering the fact that the existing laws are obsolete and no longer effective.
The Governor added: “We are currently in discussion with the Federal Ministry of Environment and some other stakeholders to begin the recruitment of the first set of the new Forest Police, as we will call them to support the activities of all the other security agencies.”
ValidViewNetwork views the change in nomenclature from Forest Guards to Forest Police Officers as part of the strategies towards strengthening the outfit in order to be able to safely safeguard the forests.
Good decision.Every state in the federation should emulate this gesture.It is lack of care and seriousness on the part of state governments to their forest services that led to the abandonment of the forest guard cadre.This led to the creation of lacuna in forest protection which eventually led to insurgents,bandits, kidnappers,etc occupying them.
Very correct!