The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), has announced the graduation of over 7,000 newly recruited Forest Guards drawn from seven frontline states.
This was disclosed in a statement released by the Special Assistant (Media) to the Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation, Rabiu Ibrahim, on Saturday.
He said this followed the successful completion of an intensive three-month training programme under the Presidential Forest Guards Initiative, launched by Bola Tinubu, GCFR, in May 2025.
According to Ibrahim, the initiative represents a coordinated Federal–State security intervention aimed at reclaiming Nigeria’s forests from criminal exploitation.
The graduation ceremonies were held on 27 December 2025 across Borno, Sokoto, Yobe, Adamawa, Niger, Kwara, and Kebbi States.
The programme is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s internal security architecture by denying terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and other criminal groups sanctuary within forested and hard-to-reach terrains.
The training programme was deliberately intensive, structured, and demanding, designed to transform loyal and committed Nigerians into agile, disciplined, and capable field operatives. The curriculum integrated environmental conservation principles with advanced security competencies, ensuring a balanced, professional, and mission-ready force.
Ibrahim noted that trainees underwent extensive physical and mental conditioning, including endurance exercises, obstacle-crossing drills, and long-range patrol simulations to prepare them for sustained forest operations.