National Workshop: NFSS rallies officers, declares readiness to drive bandits out of forests

The Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS) has renewed its commitment to reclaiming the country’s forest corridors from bandits, kidnappers, terrorists and other criminal groups.

The pledge was made by the NFSS Commander General, Dr. Joshua Osatimehin, during the 2025 National Workshop for officers and personnel in the Operations and Intelligence Departments. The four-day programme took place at the MKO Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

Dr. Osatimehin explained that the workshop was designed to further sensitize participants on operational tactics and local intelligence gathering, aimed at boosting collaboration with existing security agencies in securing the nation’s forests.

He noted that over three thousand officers attended the event, which featured presentations and lectures from the Military, DSS, Police, NSCDC, NDLEA, Immigration, Customs, and officials from the Federal Ministries of Environment and Agriculture, among other key stakeholders in the security sector.

“The main essence of this workshop is to further enable us synergize with the constituted authority and during the four days training, the DSS has tutored us on how to gather local intelligence around the forest corridor and the Nigeria Police has also trained us on joint operations as well as the Nigeria military on how we synergize also to make sure that we can flush out criminals from our forests nationwide,” he said.

According to him, the establishment of the NFSS by President Bola Tinubu comes with expectations that the Service will play a central role in boosting national security.

In his words: “We the Officers and Men of NFSS have to give in our best to support President Bola Tinubu because for him to have established the Nigerian Forest Security Service shows that the citizens depend on us and we must do our best to make sure that we did not betray the confidence reposed in us by Mr President hence the need for this four days national workshop.”

He added that the NFSS is prepared to confront criminal elements operating within the nation’s forests. “We are now using this opportunity to tell the bandits, kidnappers, boko haram, terrorists and other criminals using our forests to perpetrate evil that enough is enough because NFSS is battle ready to flush them from our forests and take our forests back from them and I must confess to you that we have the manpower and structure to deliver on that because our offices and men in all the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT as well as on the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria are combat ready for them,” the NFSS CG stated.

Dr. Osatimehin also appealed once again for full integration of the NFSS into the country’s security architecture to enable it carry out its mandate across the forests.

“Nigeria has 1,129 forest reserves, 29 games reserve, and 17 National Parks as well as 417 grazing reserves and we have map out all the interconnectivity of these forest linkages because it’s our job and we’re products of local hunters and forest experts and we can use our knowledge of local terrain to combat this criminality all what we need now is for Mr President to help us to be properly and fully integrated and incorporated into National Security so that we can discharge our constitutional Mandate because Nigeria is expecting much from us and we’re ready to deliver,” he said.

Participants, including Sunny Akpa and A. A. Ibrahim, described the workshop as crucial in boosting their operational readiness to tackle forest-related crimes in their respective states. They commended Dr. Osatimehin for his leadership and called for stronger support from state and local governments to further enhance the activities of the NFSS nationwide.

The event also featured the presentation of an Award of Excellence to the NFSS Commander General by the Lion Female Squad, as well as the CG Football Cup competition among State Commands and the FCT, with the FCT Command emerging winners.