Shortlisted candidates for the newly established Kwara State Forest Guard have raised an alarm over alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.
The applicants are accusing the state government of purging the original list of qualified candidates to make room for loyalists of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The controversy centers on the ongoing screening exercise at the Hajj Camp in Ilorin, where prospective guards are being vetted for the security outfit.
According to the aggrieved persons, many experienced applicants who previously served as community vigilantes have seen their names “disappeared without explanation” despite meeting the initial merit-based criteria.
The applicants claimed that the recruitment was sold to the public as a professional drive to engage those with local security experience. However, the reality on the ground suggests a shift toward political patronage.
“From the beginning, they told us the selection was for people who had experience as vigilantes or had volunteered to protect their communities,” one of the affected applicants stated.
He lamented that the sudden disappearance of their names has left many who abandoned their farms and trades in a state of despair.
Further allegations suggest that some of the new recruits being ushered into the camp did not participate in the formal application process.
Witnesses claim these individuals openly boasted about being “called” by party chieftains and high-ranking officials within Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration.
The disgruntled candidates warned that substituting experienced woodsmen with political appointees poses a significant threat to state security.
They argued that the Forest Guard was intended to combat banditry, illegal mining, and kidnapping—tasks that require deep knowledge of the local terrain rather than political affiliation.
“If you recruit people based on politics instead of competence, the whole purpose of the forest guard is defeated,” a source remarked. “People who have never stood guard or chased criminals from their communities were brought in just because they are party loyalists.”
The concern remains that a weakened security outfit may fail to protect rural communities already vulnerable to incursions by armed groups.
However, as at the time of filing this report, the Kwara State Government has yet to issue a formal rebuttal.