Although the Federal Government has admitted that most forests in Nigeria has been taken over by bandits and kidnappers, worn and suffering weary Nigerians are still waiting for a decisive action against acts of terror daily carried out on citizens.
This is even as gunmen said to number around 40 stormed the Kawu community in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the early hours of Thursday and abducted 23 people.
Notwithstanding that Bwari is in the FCT, Nigeria’s seat of power, bandits have in past weeks and days operated with abandon carrying people away in droves and killing others.
However, the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas, has announced that the federal government will get enough forces to deal with bandits and other criminals who have taken over most of the country’s forests.
Mr Abbas spoke on Thursday at the ministry’s top management retreat at the Fifth Chukker Resort, Maraba-Jost Road, Kaduna.
“It is quite unfortunate that most of our forests have been taken over by bandits, kidnappers and other terrorists that have been unleashing mayhem on innocent Nigerians,” said the minister.
He noted that the issue bothered President Bola Tinubu, and the federal government would soon set up enough forces to beef up security in the forests. We are liaising with the military, SSS, police, and other security agencies to remedy this ugly trend.
Mr Abbas added that the federal government was intensifying efforts to cleanse up the forests of poachers, illegal loggers and other sundry criminals making life miserable in the forests.
According to the minister, the various tree species in the country must be adequately protected, while the government is also doing everything humanly possible to address all environmental challenges.
Mr Abbas said the government was considering introducing coastal guards to boost security in Nigeria’s coastal waters.
“We will also look at other issues like perennial flooding, coastal and gully erosion and other related environmental challenges plaguing parts of Nigeria,” the minister said.
Many are wondering how bandits could freely operate in Bwari which houses the Nigerian Law School, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Defence College Camp as well as Nigerian Navy Ratings’ Barracks and more.
Kawu, the latest target shares boundaries with two states: Niger and Kaduna.
The Councilor representing the area, Abdulmumini Zakari, who is the deputy speaker in the council, said the gunmen arrived around the community on Wednesday from the Kuyeri Forest in Kaduna State.
Read also: Four dead, 39 kidnapped as bandits strike in the FCT
He explained that “They divided themselves into groups and some went into the palace of the district head, Alhaji Abdurrahman Danjuma Ali, where they abducted his son, Lukman, and his wife, who he married two weeks ago. Others attacked the compound of Alhaji Alhassan Sidi Kawu, the Marafa of Kawu and a former PDP Chairman of Kawu Ward. They abducted him along with his four children.”
The bandits also went into the compound of Sarkin Pawan Kawu, Gambo S Pawa, and abducted him alongside his two wives and some children.
Read also: Kidnappers ravage Abuja suburbs, about 30 persons taken at the weekend
The FCT Police Command spokeswoman, S.P Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident in a reply to our reporter yesterday.
“Some unknown hoodlums stormed Kawu village, a bordering community with Kagarko LGA, in Kaduna State, and kidnapped people. The truth is that the miscreants raided that general area and escaped into Kaduna State,” she said.
