…As Gov. seeks 1,000 more recruits
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribaɗu, has said the growing collaboration between the Federal Government and the Kaduna State Government is delivering tangible results in the fight against insecurity, describing Kaduna’s Armed Forest Guard training programme as the best conducted in the country.
Ribadu made the remarks on Saturday at the graduation ceremony of the pioneer batch of Armed Forest Guards in Kaduna. He was represented by the Director of Internal Security at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Malam Sani Sani.
According to the NSA, nationwide assessments of the initiative ranked Kaduna’s programme highest, adding that the Office of the National Security Adviser would readily approve further training requests from the state. “From the evaluation that we carried out across the country, the training in Kaduna State has been recorded as the best at the moment. The Office of the National Security Adviser will not have any doubt in granting another request to Kaduna State to continue this kind of training if the governor wishes to do so”, he said.
Ribaɗu disclosed that more than 1,000 Armed Forest Guards underwent intensive training in weapons handling, physical fitness, combat readiness, community relations, civil-military cooperation, inter-agency coordination and adherence to the rule of law.
He explained that the newly trained guards are expected to return to their communities as first responders, helping to build local resilience against criminal elements before the arrival of conventional security agencies.
The NSA recalled that President Bola Tinubu launched the Armed Forest Guard initiative on May 24, 2025, to train indigenous personnel to secure Nigeria’s ungoverned forest areas, protect bio-diversity, watersheds and wildlife.
He said the guards would become a critical component of the nation’s security architecture by denying terrorists, bandits and other criminal groups freedom of operation within forest corridors, noting that the President had directed the Office of the National Security Adviser to provide strategic leadership and oversee the programme nationwide.
Speaking at the event, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani commended the NSA for his continued support and expressed pride that Kaduna’s training programme had emerged as the best in the country. The governor formally requested the deployment and training of an additional 1,000 Armed Forest Guards, stressing that security remains the top priority of his administration.
According to him, several local government areas that were virtually inaccessible when his administration assumed office in 2023 have become significantly safer. “Many local governments were not accessible because of insecurity when we came into office in 2023. Today, people can travel to those areas without police escorts, and that, in my opinion, is progress,” he said.
Governor Uba Sani specifically cited Birnin Gwari, Giwa and Kachia as frontline local government areas that were once under siege but have witnessed remarkable improvements due to sustained collaboration between the Kaduna State Government, the Federal Government and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Expressing confidence that the request for another 1,000 Forest Guards would be approved, the governor pledged to sustain efforts aimed at building a peaceful, secure and prosperous Kaduna State through continued partnership with all stakeholders.
