As the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service Establishment Bill awaits presidential assent, RAYMOND OZOJI examines its merits and consequences for the overall national security architecture.
Many security professionals feel that security institutions must remain consciously and deliberately apart from politics. They believe that this may be accomplished by ensuring that they remain under civilian administration while maintaining their ethos and energy.
This is significant because they must be powerful enough to defend the country while remaining loyal enough to obey the legal dictates of a democratically elected administration. There is also the idea that these security organisations should maintain a professional demeanour, conduct, and activities. For example, recruiting, placement, promotion, posting, and retirement should be free of partisan or political influences.
Nigeria’s security sector has become so militarised that it now functions as a praetorian circuit, with tight guardianship reserved for fighters. Experts believed that the sector should be moderately demilitarised to stimulate civilian participation and contributions. Un-uniformed technocrats with relevant knowledge in military strategy and linked technological resourcing must be enlisted in national security governance.
This is because they believe that modern security threats are more civil than military. “Non-military incidents like armed criminality and violent extremism are far more common than threats of civil war or external aggression. Hence, the involvement of civilians in the national security procedures as technical volunteers and undercover operatives is crucial.”
As the bill establishing the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) awaits President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s signature to formalise its operations in the country, it is critical to note that the role of hunters in combating crimes and criminalities cannot be overstated because hunters have proven themselves to be credible security alternatives due to their extensive experience and knowledge of the bush and forests.
While other paramilitary organisations such as the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigeria Correctional Service, and others exist to supplement the efforts of the Nigeria Police, Military, and others, the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) could be useful in providing local security in rural areas, working in collaboration with local vigilantes to strengthen community policing.
Hunters have demonstrated bravery in their operations against criminal elements by destroying kidnappers’ dens in the forests, rescuing kidnap victims from captivity, discovering dead bodies in the forests, and providing local surveillance in the hinterlands.
In Anambra State, for instance, hunters have done great exploits, especially with the rescue of a woman who was kidnapped in In Anambra State, for example, hunters have performed heroic feats, including the recovery of a woman kidnapped in Aguleri-Otu Anambra-East Local Government Area. The need for Nigerians to advocate for the passage of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service Establishment Bill into law would be groundbreaking, as hunters are reliable security deposits.
According to reports, Nigerian hunters have also demonstrated their abilities in security operations in other states of the federation, including Kogi, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Bauchi, and others, as well as the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. As a result, the presidency’s formalisation of the operations of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) would further strengthen the struggle against criminal elements throughout the country, particularly criminal elements lurking in the bushes and forests across Nigeria.
Local security is important, and the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) officers and men can provide appropriate solutions to security breaches in rural communities such as Osumoghu, Lilu, Isseke, Mbosi, Azia, and Ubulu-Isiuzo in Anambra State’s Ihiala Local Government Area because hunters are familiar with the local terrain.
Rural communities in Bauchi and other Northern states benefit from hunters’ exploits, which have greatly aided in the reclaiming of most settlements in the North that have been kidnapped or taken by daredevils. Hunters have developed a foothold in the FCT in recent months, while NHFSS operatives have fought valiantly to cleanse the nation’s capital city of hoodlums hiding in the surrounding bushes.
Given the foregoing, it would be a near-perfect situation to conclude that the formal recognition of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) through the signing of its Establishment Bill into law by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal government would be a more proactive approach to combating forest crimes on Nigerian soil.
To that end, a group known as the North Central Youth Security Forum (NCYSF) urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to sign the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service Bill, which had already been passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives, without delay. The North Central Youth Security Forum also advocated for NHFSS to be an autonomous body under the Ministry of Interior of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Furthermore, many state governors, including those of Kebbi, Imo, and Plateau, are already collaborating with Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) operatives, providing them with operational vehicles and other necessary equipment to carry out their patriotic duties to their country. According to accessible documents, the NHFSS has been in operation for over ten years, with well-structured command and control procedures.
Over 20,000 officers and men from the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service, who operate in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, have been targeted by individuals and groups who believe and value their exploits, gallantry, and contributions to national security, particularly in intelligence gathering and technical operations in and around forests.
Hunters have demonstrated their daring and intrepidity in the North-west and North-central regions, particularly with the revival of violent crime in Plateau, Niger, Benue, Nasarawa, and the federal capital territory of Abuja, which has seen an increase in killings and kidnappings for ransom by terrorist groups. The mass massacres on Christmas Eve 2023, which killed over 200 people, are one episode that Nigerians remember well.
As a result of the alarming trend, security stakeholders have called for more attention from security services in the country’s northern area. Some of these stakeholders included the North-Central and North-West Youths, who voiced sympathy with President Tinubu’s declaration to work with special security units solely committed to combating crimes planned and carried out within and surrounding forests.
They consequently asked President Tinubu to sign the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS) Bill into law. They feel that the approval of the hunters’ bill means that the bushes and forests would no longer be a haven for criminal forces plotting terror and mayhem against Nigerians. They also believe that establishing the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service within the forestry ministry would be a bold step in the right way.
The Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service (NHFSS), led by Commander General Dr. Joshua Osatimehin, has earned the trust of Nigerians via their rapid rescue missions. They have also earned the trust and support of the Nigerian people via their bravery and swift response operations, which have saved more lives since their beginning.
Mr. President would be prudent to sign the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service Establishment Bill into law as soon as possible so that they can contribute their quota to national security.
By Raymond Ozoji
