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RAYMOND OZOJI reports

The Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS) says that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda on forest security is a task that must be pursued with the vigor and vitality it truly deserves inorder to secure as well as protect the forests from brigands and undesirable elements.<!--more-->

Speaking at the end of a 4-day training session for Provosts, Intelligence and Surveillance Departments of the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS) the Commander-General of the service Dr. Joshua Wole Osatimehin, said that the bill to establish the Nigeria Forest Security Service as an agency of the federal government (NFSS) has been passed by the national assembly and currently awaiting presidential assent.

Osatimehin therefore appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to assent to the bill to propel officers and men of the service in all the various commands across the federation into more dedicated actions to preserve the forests and protect them from criminal campings.

Meanwhile the Deputy Commander-General (Intelligence Department) of the NFSS, Dr. John Metchie, who was conferred an award as the Best and Most Accommodating DCG in NFSS by the FCT police command, said that intelligence gathering is the bedrock of security and that forest guards are the missing links of the security architecture in Nigeria.

Metchie maintained that it is no longer news that the Senate and the House of Representatives have both passed the Bill to establish the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS) as a full-fledged government agency.

He was therefore of the opinion that all eyes are now on President Bola Tinubu to sign the bill into law to enhance the operational efficacy of the NFSS, adding that the NFSS bill presents a rare opportunity for the President to implement a key plank of his Renewed Hope Agenda, which he said was to create and empower a special body to guard Nigeria’s huge forested areas, so that Nigerians can return to their farms without fear of molestations by brigands and other undesirable elements.

On his part, the FCT police commissioner CP Ajao Adewale underscored the importance of the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS) in the safety and security of Nigeria's forest reserves.

CP Adewale who lauded the contributions of the NFSS to national security, noted that the interactions with Nigeria Forest Security Service has indeed strengthened security especially around the forests and mountainous areas

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He added that where the police and other security agencies could not reach, the NFSS continues which he described as the beauty of synergy, emphasizing that the nation is achieving better results with the Nigeria Forest Security Service (NFSS).

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