The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal on Friday, disclosed that the Ministry was working closely with the Ministries of Defence and Police Affairs, to create a force that would flush Boko Haram and bandits from Nigerian forests.
Lawal stated this at the National Assembly Complex while defending the budget of the Ministry before the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Environment.
He said that the Federal Government was thinking of coming up with a unit out of the Park Rangers that would secure the Nigerian forests.
He said, “What we are saying is that there is a close relationship between security and the environment because the Environment Ministry is in charge of the forest. I’m sure you know most of the issues related to banditry, Boko Haram, are hibernating in the forests. You are talking of Sambisa forest and Kamuku forest in the North East and North West.
“We feel there is a strong desire for government to enforce the forces that are taking care of the forest. We are thinking of coming up with a unit out of our Park Rangers that will address the issue of people with bad habits hibernating in the forests.
“That is why we are working closely with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Police Affairs to see what we can do to make sure our forests are well guarded.
He pointed out that one of the biggest issues facing Nigeria as a country was that the insecurity was hampering the Great Green Wall effort because they didn’t allow the people to plant trees that they were supposed to plant.
“Sometimes they cut the trees at will. If you are going to cut any tree now in Nigeria you need to get permission from the state government or from the local authorities, but they do it at will because nobody can go there and stop them.
“That is why we feel strongly that there is a need for us to work together with the security agencies, local government authorities and state governments to make sure we make our forests secure.
“We are thinking of establishing Forest Guards like it is done in Tanzania, Kenya and other places. We are thinking in that direction.
The co-Chairman of the joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Environment Hon. Terseer Ugbor, while speaking with journalists after the budget defence, agreed with the Minister that Nigeria had the National Park Service that was responsible for monitoring and managing the National Parks, which are forest areas and forest reserves that unfortunately had become a hiding place for bandits and banditry activities.”
“We are hoping that the National Parks Service can be empowered and improved …you know they have the constitutional mandate to carry arms as National Park Service, but they don’t have enough arms to chase out bandits from the National Parks across the country.
“They have applied to the Nigerian Army for 1000 GW3 guns. We hope the Army will make these guns available to them so that they can support eradicating bandits from our forests and our National Parks. If this is done, it will contribute greatly to the security situation in the country.”
He said that the Committee was satisfied with their presentations, but not totally satisfied with the budgetary provisions for the Ministry, adding “Historically the Ministry of Environment has been underfunded. We have known this for quite a while and we hope something will be done.
“Hon. Ugbor “on the positive side of the budget was the provision of N20 billion for climate change adaptation in Nigeria that was put under the Ministry of Environment. This is one of the commitments we made at COP28. I think this is a good step in the right direction.
“It shows the President is thinking very positively about this issue. We hope this fund will be made available as at when due to implement environmental programmes that are highly necessary and important for the survival of the ecosystem, our country and the development of our economy.”
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