Insecurity: Delta Govt Deploys 1000 Forest Guards Armed With AK-47
Determined to curb the activities of bandits and other criminal elements across the state, the Delta state government has deployed 1,000 Forest Guards armed with AK-47 rifles as part of measures to strengthen security.…
State governments across Nigeria have increasingly turned to community-based and state-funded security outfits to complement federal policing, as insecurity ranging from kidnapping and banditry to farmer-herder clashes and forest-based criminality continues to strain conventional law enforcement. Forest guard schemes, which recruit and arm local personnel familiar with terrain to patrol rural and forested areas, have become a recurring model, particularly in states grappling with armed groups who exploit forests as hideouts.
The coverage here spans two separate states pursuing similar strategies: Delta, where the state government says it has already deployed 1,000 AK-47-armed forest guards to confront bandits and criminal elements, and Zamfara, long one of the states hardest hit by banditry, where the government has announced plans to train a similar number of guards. The reports do not detail funding sources, training providers, command structure, or how these guards will coordinate with police and military operations — details likely to emerge as both initiatives roll out.