Niger to engage Forest Guards to beat encroachment
Worried by the indiscriminate encroachment of forest reserves in the Niger State by land speculators, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has approved the re-engagement of Green Guards to protect the forest and its economic values.
The State Commissioner for Environment and Solid Mineral, Dr. Aliyu Mohammed Tangwagi, disclosed this to newsmen in Minna.
He said the governor approved the re-engagement of the 520 former casual guards employed under the defunct Sure-P initiative in order to protect forest belt of the state from being illegally taken over.
“In the face of indiscriminate encroachment of our forest reserve and the illegal felling of trees without conscious efforts to replace fell trees, Mr. Governor has approved the return of the Green Guards. This is to bring sanity into our forest and protect our environment from deforestation.
“For a start, we are reviewing the status of the former 520 casual guards engaged by the past administration with a view to engaging them. Our forest is left porous. The reserve is being encroached upon and illegal felling of trees is going unabated, thereby causing deforestation and drain on the revenue that would have accrued to the state”.
To this end, a bill to harmonise the regulating laws of forest reserves in the state is currently been looked into by the state House of Assembly. The bill according to the Commissioner has gotten to the third reading in the house.
