Terrorism: Akeredolu’s alarm on forests

LAST week, the Ondo State governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, warned that forests across the country had been taken over by terrorists. Speaking while receiving members of the Council of All Saints Church, Jericho, Ibadan, led by their chairman, Dr. Wonuola Adewunmi, who were on a condolence visit to the state following the attack on worshippers at the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, on June 5, during which 40 persons lost their lives while many others sustained injuries, the governor called for international assistance to combat terrorism. He said: “We have terrorists in Nigeria. We need the world to assist Nigeria. If Nigeria doesn’t want it, Ondo State wants it. They still attacked somewhere in Ogun State recently. There are terrorists lurking in our forests.” The governor, who also canvassed that Nigerians be trained on basic civil defence tactics, reiterated that the people must be prepared for any eventuality, calling on churches to install CCTV as part of the security measures to prevent a recurrence of the Owo terror attack.

Actually, that was not the first time the Ondo State governor had drawn attention to the threat posed by terrorists resident in the country’s forests. He had raised the alarm many times, but the Federal Government, which has absolute control over the country’s security architecture, refused to budge. Naturally, Akeredolu is not alone in calling for action in the matter. The House of Representatives recently asked the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on all forest reserves in Owo/Ose federal constituency of Ondo State. According to the lawmakers, this would enable security operatives to “comb and fish out the perpetrators” of the recent attack on a church. The resolution of the Green Chamber came a day after the Senate asked security agencies to deploy drones and helicopters to monitor forests and ungoverned areas in the country.

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To say the least, the virtual handover of Nigeria’s forests and reserves to outlaws portends danger for Nigeria’s corporate existence. As we have noted many times, terrorists control vast swathes of Nigerian territory. It is a fact that they have made the country’s forests their natural habitat, entering towns and cities to kill people for sport and then returning to the forests to have a swell time. If they need emotional security, they kidnap women and young girls and subject them to horrendous ordeals of rape. They abduct people on the highways and tie them to trees in the forests, often leaving them to die when ransom payment does not arrive early enough. Worse still, countless numbers of victims whose family members or friends paid the requested ransoms were still murdered by the terrorists. Among other unfortunate developments, scores of people kidnapped during the attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train on March 28 remain in captivity till date, subjected to horrible ordeals in a forest. The conclusion, unfortunate though it is, is that there is now effectively two powers over Nigerians: the government and terrorists.

Of course, it is not just farming activities that are being impeded by the takeover of Nigeria’s forests by outlaws. In March, the chairman, Board of Trustees of the Forestry Association of Nigeria, Chief James Odebiyi, and the president of the association, Ahmad Ibrahim, called on the Federal Government to rid Nigeria’s forests of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists. Speaking on the International Day of Forests after concluding the association’s 43rd annual conference, Ibrahim lamented that insecurity was affecting research and legitimate activities in the forest estates of Nigeria as hoodlums had taken over, urging the government to reclaim the forests from criminals. The dangerous trend, he said, started in 2003 but had become a monster over the years.

Governor Akeredolu’s warning is a timely one. It must not be taken lightly by the Federal Government. It is not mere rhetoric; it is rooted in the realities of Nigeria’s dysfunction. The country’s forests are not just being encroached upon; they have been taken over by blood-thirsty killers and merchants of death. President Buhari must immediately order aerial surveillance of the forests to eliminate the terrorists. He should deploy drone technology as suggested by the National Assembly. Besides, we hereby reiterate our call for the creation of state police. The kind of absurdity taking place in Nigeria where state governments rely on the central government to secure their own people in every facet of life does not happen in civilised climes. For instance, no terrorist would dare to invade any forest in the United States and use it as a base to launch murderous attacks on law-abiding citizens in counties and cities: he would be dead in no time because states in the country have the wherewithal to defend themselves from the onslaught of criminals and, what is more, the citizenry have the right to bear arms.

We expect the issue raised by Governor Akeredolu to be addressed by bodies such as the National Council of State. The Federal Government cannot continue to outlaw state police. As things stand, states cannot defend themselves. That is a recipe for disaster in a supposed federation.