Banditry: Tinubu approves firearms for Forest Guards nationwide
President Bola Tinubu has approved the use of firearms by Forest Guards nationwide in a renewed strategy to combat banditry and growing insecurity across the country.
The President made this known on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which held at the State House, Abuja.
He stated that the rising threat of insecurity across the country called for a decentralized and heavily fortified security architecture.
“We need all the forces that we can utilise…The Civil Defence are equally armed, and our NSA should arm our forest guards too. Take it very seriously,” he said.
Addressing issues surrounding the withdrawal of police personnel from VIPs protection duties, the President remarked: “If you have any difficulty as regards security because of the nature of your assignment, contact the IGP and get my clearance,” he said.
To ensure that the gaps created by such reassignments do not leave citizens exposed, he instructed the Interior Minister to work closely with the Inspector General.
“Replace those police officers who are on special security duties, so they don’t leave people exposed,” Tinubu directed.
The President further instructed ministries and agencies to implement the directive quickly in order to restore the people’s confidence in public safety.
The President had earlier declared a nationwide security emergency on Wednesday, asking the National Assembly to review extant laws to enable states establish their own police forces, while also ordering the recruitment of additional police personnel and the deployment of Forest Guards.
He had also on November 23 ordered the immediate withdrawal of police personnel attached to VIPs nationwide to boost manpower needs in the nation’s security architecture, a directive already being enforced by the Special Protection Unit of the Nigeria Police.
The IGP Kayode Egbetokun, revealed recently that 11,566 officers previously assigned to VIP protection had been recalled, even as the Nigerian Senate made special appeals on Wednesday that lawmakers be excluded from the policy.
