Boko Haram and bandits would be driven out of Nigerian forests, according to Environment Minister Balarabe Lawal’s statement, which also mentions cooperation with the Ministries of Defense and Police Affairs.
In front of the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Environment, the minister revealed this information when defending the Ministry’s budget.
Lawal stated that in order to secure the forests of Nigeria, the Federal Government is considering creating a Park Rangers organization.
Since the Environment Ministry is in charge of the forest, we are arguing that there is a direct relationship between security and the environment. You are undoubtedly aware that the majority of banditry-related problems, such as Boko Haram, are dormant in the forests. You are referring to the forests in the North East and North West, Sambisa and Kamuku.
He noted that the main problem they were having was that insecurity was impeding the Great Green Wall project since they were not letting the people plant the trees that they were meant to.
Terseer Ugbor, the co-chairman of the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Environment, concurred with the minister during a press conference following the Ministry of Environment’s budget defense that Nigeria’s National Park Service is in charge of overseeing and maintaining National Parks.
He claims that the parks—which include forest reserves and areas—have turned into havens for robbers and banditry.
Ugbor stated that although the committee was pleased with their presentations, they were not pleased with the Ministry’s financial allocations, stating that “the Ministry of Environment has historically been underfunded.” We hope that action will be taken because we have known this for a while.
