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Daniel Adaji
A coalition of hunters and farmers has renewed its call on President Bola Tinubu to sign into law a bill that would formally recognize their operations as a paramilitary force empowered to confront bandits, Boko Haram insurgents, and other criminals exploiting Nigeria’s vast forest landscapes.
Groups at the forefront of the call include the Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS), the Professional Hunters Association of Nigeria (PHAN), the Agbekoya Farmers’ Society of Nigeria, and the Oodua Peoples Congress.
These organisations argue that their local knowledge, traditional tracking skills, and spiritual resilience make them uniquely equipped to wage an effective grassroots campaign against forest-based insurgents.
“We understand the forests; some of our operatives live there, but we cannot just attack the marauders without the government’s backing so that we will not be charged with genocide and other forms of illegal operations,” said Joshua Osatimehin, Commandant General of the NFSS.
Osatimehin stressed that legal recognition would provide not only protection from prosecution but also the confidence and resources to scale up operations.
“As soon as the government decides to give us the necessary backup, this will give us the confidence to deploy all our arsenals – physically, spiritually, and otherwise to dislodge these people,” he said.
PHAN’s National Secretary, Danladi Perry, linked the persistent violence in states like Benue and Plateau to the federal government’s failure to mobilize local forest patrols.
“The spate of killings in Benue, Plateau and other northern states would have been prevented if the Federal Government had engaged professional hunters, forest guards and local vigilantes to man our forests,” he said.
The hunters argue that their daily presence in forests makes them natural first responders to threats in remote areas, a claim supported by NFSS North-Central Commander Alhaji Muhammad Ahmed.
“It (insecurity) will be obliterated because the real hunters know the terrain where the terrorists operate in the forests,” he stated.
Also entering the conversation is Osaje, a former army officer dismissed over what he describes as a “minor offense,” now working as a private security consultant.
He believes the Federal Government should consider pardoning dismissed personnel like himself to reinforce the military’s shrinking manpower.
“There are many of us who have learnt our lessons and are ready to grab the boots and the guns again,” he said, adding that many retired soldiers remain physically capable and willing to serve again if called upon.
A retired Army Captain, Babangida Umar offered a more controversial take, asserting that the military has the capacity to end insurgency within weeks, but is being sabotaged by corrupt senior officers.
“All that is required is to get rid of the Generals who are profiting from the annual huge budgetary allocation to defence and security,” Umar claimed.
The bill, currently awaiting President Tinubu’s assent, seeks to confer legal paramilitary status on hunters and forest security groups nationwide.
If passed into law, it would formally empower them to operate as a legal arm of Nigeria’s broader security architecture — a move supporters argue could significantly ease the burden on conventional forces and introduce a new, highly localized layer of defence.