Radio TNT 102.5 FM

As part of measures to make the forests in Ekiti State uninhabitable for kidnappers and bandits, and also to check illegal logging activities, the state government is set to recruit more forest guards.

Governor Kayode Fayemi, who was represented by the Chairman, Ekiti State Forestry Commission, Kayode Olaosebikan, spoke in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday after receiving the report of a six-month survey of 31 cultural sites in the state, led by an expert, Dr Babajide Agboola, and staff of the state forestry commission.

He said that the recruited guards would ensure implementation of forest laws to curb bandits using forests as safe haven for nefarious activities and checkmate the illegal loggers depleting the forests.

The governor said, “The government is not unaware of the dreaded activities being perpetrated by some criminals in the forests. Efforts are being geared up to arrest the situation.

“The state forestry commission already has a proposal, which will be approved soon. We want to hire more guards to safeguard our forests against insecurity and illegal lumbering that can endanger our people and our economy.

“The government at present has enough personnel, but some of them will be retiring soon. We also feel that we should have more that can effectively cover our forest reserves, so that our people and economy can be saved from wicked people.

The state governor, added, “As part of our strategies, we are giving licenses to loggers to fell mature trees in our forest reserves, so that when the criminals know that activities are on there, they will flee”.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Environment, Dr Akinyemi Akinyugha, said, “Most of the security threats happening around us are done in the forests across the states where the bandits take their victims to. That is where we also have illegal tree felling, that is why cutting and logging of trees must be regulated”.

Akinyugha said that the state government was upping its game to conserve the existing forests and regenerated the depleted ones to boost the economy and protect the environment.

He said, “Flora and fauna are interlinked and the fact that some species of trees and animals have become extinct makes it imperative for us to conserve our biodiversity. Making some of these groves protected areas will make us have managed tourist activities that will not desecrate or degrade the areas and we can also earn revenue.”