As Nigeria continues to search for solutions for the pervasive insecurity in the country, especially kidnapping and banditry, experts in the security space have expressed divergent opinions on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s plan to deploy Forest Guards with better training as a measure to secure the country.
This is even as gunmen have reportedly invaded Army Post Housing Estate, Kurudu, in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and abducted two persons. Kurudu, one of the communities in the outskirts of Abuja, shares boundary with Nasarawa State.
The incident occurred barely two days after the police high command launched a major operation against kidnappers and bandits in Abuja general area.
The police have been mum over the incident, which reportedly happened about 10.00pm in the Phase Two area of the estate on Thursday. Spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, declined comment on the incident, urging newsmen to contact the army on the incident.
A source at the Guards Brigade, the major protectors of the seat of power and the president, also declined to comment on the matter. With the launch of a Special Intervention Squad (SIS) in the FCT to address the increasing spate of insecurity in the territory, residents had thought that the end of the kidnapping spree had come but the latest incident has proved them wrong.
However, security experts in the country sharply differed on the Federal Government’s plan to deploy Forest Guards with better training, modern technological gadgets and weapons to strengthen the security situation in the country.
President Tinubu had disclosed the plan last weekend, when he received members of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) at the State House, Abuja.
While some security experts spoke in favour of the plan, others vehemently kicked against it, saying it will not curb kidnapping and banditry in the nation’s vast forests.
Former Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, said Forest Guards creation would not curb kidnappings and banditry.
“Forest Guards will not curb kidnapping and banditry. What Nigeria needs at this time is a highly trained Hostage Rescue Police/DSS Units, armed and trained in special weapons and tactics to directly confront the menace of banditry and kidnapping. Anything else is ineffective window dressing,” he said.
Also speaking, Certified Protection Officer, Mr. Frank Oshanugor, said the plan would have been a very good step towards curbing insecurity in the country but noted that the sophistication that has been brought into crime particularly may make the plan dead at birth.
He noted: “The reason is that if Nigerian security forces, which include the military, police, DSS and other paramilitary agencies find it difficult to contend with kidnappers, bandits, terrorists and other criminal elements, one begins to wonder the type of magic wands officials of the proposed Forest Guards would bring to defeat the criminals.
“Personally, I do not think that the establishment of Forest Guards in the technology driven 21st Century Nigeria would curb kidnapping and other criminalities. Let us remind ourselves that one of the reasons for the introduction of the National Identification Number (NIN) and its integration into the nation’s mobile telephony is to easily track the terrorists, particularly kidnappers, who like taking their victims into the forest.
“We should wonder why it has been difficult for the security agencies to track the phones used by the kidnappers operating from forest areas where they usually keep their victims hostage,” he said.
He urged the government to assemble electronic security experts and make them work with the security agencies with respect to tracking the locations of the kidnappers who reside in the bush with their victims and demand hundreds of millions as ransom.
Oshanugor also advised the Federal Government to embark on re-profiling some categories of security personnel both in the military, police and others with a view to getting out those whose background lacks credibility.
“Many so-called ‘repentant’ terrorists were reportedly recruited into the military and police during the Buhari administration. Such elements are dangerous to the nation’s security,” he added.
To former President of the Private Security Practitioners Association of Nigeria, Dr. Wilson Esangbedo, creating Forest Guards is not the problem, but funding it properly.
Esangbedo said: “If they are properly trained, well armed and given adequate pay, it will curb insecurity but if the reverse is the case, they may turn against the populace they are supposed to protect. Will it curb kidnapping? Yes, it will, if they are properly motivated.
“Good pay, proper compensation, insurance benefits and modern arms and equipment are special steps the government must take to enable them to deliver on the assignment and also ensure that they don’t clash with other security agencies.”
On her part, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Transworld Security and President of School of Management and Security, Dr. Victoria Ekhomu, said the reintroduction of Forest Guards at the federal level is a step in the right direction.
Ekhomu said: “Reintroduction of Forest Guards at federal level to curb insecurity in Nigeria is a welcome development for the Federal Government to address the criminality being perpetrated by bandits and herdsmen who have taken over our forests since the Buhari administration. Several innocent citizens have been kidnapped for ransom and some killed in our forests by these criminals.
“Some victims have relayed their traumatic experiences and narrated what they saw in these forests, saying the criminals were seen to be highly organised and had top backings from the way they carried out their transactions and picked their ransom monies.