For decades, Nigeria’s forests and vast stretches of ungoverned land have represented one of the most persistent blind spots in the country’s internal security architecture. What should ordinarily be ecological assets—sources of livelihoods, biodiversity and economic value—gradually became sanctuaries for bandits, terrorists, kidnappers, illegal miners and all manner of violent criminal networks. From the North-West to the North-Central belt, and increasingly across other regions, these forests evolved into launchpads for attacks and safe havens for fugitives escaping conventional security patrols.
This did not happen overnight. As population growth, climate pressures and economic dislocations strained rural communities, criminal groups exploited the state’s limited presence in forested and border areas. Conventional policing, designed primarily for urban and semi-urban environments, struggled to adapt. Security agencies were expected to police territories they barely knew—dense forests, unmapped paths, and difficult terrain where locals possessed far superior knowledge of the land. The result was a cat-and-mouse game in which criminals retained the advantage, melting into the bushes after every attack and returning when attention shifted elsewhere.
It is against this historical backdrop that the creation of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NFHSS)—popularly known as the Forest Guards—must be understood. This Security Service is a deliberate attempt to address a several-decades-old structural weakness in Nigeria’s security framework: the inability to effectively secure forests and other vast, lightly governed spaces.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu authorised the establishment of the NFHSS after the National Assembly passed the enabling Bill into law. That decision reflects a growing consensus within Nigeria’s security community that winning the fight against insecurity requires taking the battle to where criminals actually operate—not merely responding after attacks have occurred.
The Forest Guards are designed to fill a critical gap. With insecurity increasingly rooted in forested areas, their primary responsibility is to take charge of forest security and deal decisively with criminal elements that use these environments as hideouts, transit routes or operational bases.
The successful birth of this initiative owes much to the steady coordination and strategic vision of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). The National Security Adviser has played a pivotal, if understated, role in aligning policy intent with operational reality—ensuring that this new security service is not only legally grounded but professionally structured, properly vetted and integrated into the broader national security ecosystem.
The NFHSS draws its strength from a principle that Nigerian security policy must be community-anchored. Forest Guards are selected from among local hunters and vigilante groups—men and women who understand the terrain, the footpaths, the forests, and the subtle rhythms of the environment better than any outsider ever could.
To ensure professionalism and prevent abuse, this local recruitment is complemented by rigorous oversight. Names submitted by Local Governments undergo background checks by the Department of State Services (DSS). Only those who pass these screenings are admitted. In total, 70,000 Forest Guards have been recruited, in line with Federal Character principles, ensuring national spread and balance.
This hybrid model—local expertise backed by federal oversight—addresses one of the core failures of past security interventions: the absence of trust, intelligence flow and terrain familiarity at the grassroots level.
Concerns about training, arms control and accountability have been central to the design of the Forest Guards. Training is conducted at the state level, following regional screening exercises, and is carried out under the supervision of the DSS and other armed services. This ensures standardisation, discipline and adherence to rules of engagement.
Crucially, the Forest Guards are authorised to carry arms only with approval from the Office of the National Security Adviser, the statutory authority responsible for regulating the use of weapons by non-military entities. This centralised approval mechanism prevents proliferation, maintains command discipline, and anchors the service firmly within Nigeria’s national security framework.
Operationally, Forest Guards have powers of arrest and, where absolutely necessary, may use lethal force in the course of duty. However, their mandate is not to replace the police or the military. Rather, they are to investigate forest-related crimes and hand suspects over to the Nigeria Police Force, reinforcing inter-agency collaboration rather than competition.
The NFHSS operates under the Federal Ministry of Environment, reflecting the dual nature of its mandate: security and environmental protection. Forest crime is not limited to banditry and kidnapping; it also includes illegal mining, logging and destructive practices that degrade ecosystems and undermine local livelihoods.
Several state governments, like Lagos, Zamfara, and Sokoto States have also begun providing logistical and operational support, recognising that forest insecurity directly affects subnational stability.
At its core, the Forest Guards initiative is designed to restore state authority and security to Nigeria’s forests and other ungoverned spaces. They will provide the needed assistance to other security services to confront and dismantle the criminal ecosystems that have taken root in these areas. The Forest Guards are tasked with preventing and combating forest-based crimes such as kidnapping, banditry and illegal mining, while also addressing related threats including bush and forest fires that endanger lives, livelihoods and the environment.
Equally important is their role in harmonising and professionalising existing hunter and vigilante groups, bringing them under a coordinated and regulated framework that prioritises discipline, accountability and collaboration with formal security institutions. By operating close to the terrain and communities, the Forest Guards are expected to gather actionable intelligence and share it promptly with relevant security agencies, strengthening early warning systems and improving response capabilities.
If effectively implemented and sustained, the Forest Guards could mark a turning point in Nigeria’s internal security strategy. By reclaiming forests and bushes from criminal control, the Nigerian state is sending a clear signal: there will be no safe havens, no forgotten territories, no lawless pockets beyond the reach of government’s authority.
More importantly, this initiative rebalances the security equation. Criminals who once launched attacks from deep within forests will now find those same spaces actively monitored, patrolled and contested. The fight is being taken directly to their hiding places.
In the long run, safer forests mean safer communities, restored confidence in rural governance, and a stronger sense of state presence where it has long been absent. Let us not ascribe the Forest Guards the quality of a silver bullet—but however, they are a necessary and overdue addition to Nigeria’s security framework, one that reflects hard-earned lessons from decades of asymmetric threats.
If the momentum is sustained, this move will not only flush criminals out of their hideouts; it will fundamentally change how Nigeria secures its vast ungoverned spaces—and how the state reasserts control over every inch of its territory.
Dahiru Bashir Hassan is a security researcher and writes from the FCT
