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Some forest guards deployed to security-challenged communities in Kwara and Enugu states have reportedly abandoned or threatened to abandon their posts, citing unpaid salaries and allowances, hunger, inadequate welfare and insufficient weapons to confront heavily armed criminal groups.
The allegations were detailed in an exclusive report published by SaharaReporters on August 20, 2026, raising fresh questions about the implementation of Nigeria’s forest security initiative at a time when terrorism, banditry and kidnapping remain major security concerns.
According to the report, guards recruited, trained and deployed under state and Federal Government-backed security programmes complained that they were being expected to operate in dangerous forests without adequate logistical and financial support.
In Kwara State, guards deployed across Kaiama, Patigi and Edu local government areas were reported to have begun leaving their duty posts and returning towards their bases.
Some operatives alleged they had spent more than three months in remote communities without adequate welfare support, leaving them dependent on residents—many of whom are themselves struggling economically—for food.
Beyond hunger and unpaid entitlements, the guards raised an even more serious concern: firepower.
They alleged that some operatives lack weapons capable of matching those carried by the terrorists and other armed groups they are expected to confront. This potentially leaves personnel exposed when operating deep inside forests where reinforcement from conventional security agencies may not arrive quickly.
In Enugu State, some recently recruited forest guards also alleged that they had worked for months without receiving salaries or allowances, with some claiming they had not been paid since November 2025.
The allegations are particularly significant because forest guards have become an important component of the Federal Government’s strategy for reclaiming Nigeria’s forests from terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal groups.
President Bola Tinubu, during his November 26, 2025 security address, authorised the immediate deployment of trained forest guards as part of efforts to flush armed groups out of forests.
More than 7,000 guards from seven frontline states, including Kwara, subsequently graduated under the Presidential Forest Guards Initiative. By July 2026, the Federal Government said the number trained had exceeded 9,000 across 10 states.
Kwara alone reportedly had about 1,000 forest guards complete training in December 2025 before deployments to vulnerable areas including Kaiama, Edu, Patigi, Ifelodun and Ekiti LGAs.
The risks facing these operatives are far from theoretical. At least 12 forest guards and vigilantes were reportedly killed in an attack in Oke-Ode, Ifelodun LGA, in September 2025, while another six forest guards were reportedly killed in Nuku, Kaiama LGA, in April 2026.
The latest allegations therefore expose a potentially dangerous weakness in Nigeria’s forest security strategy.
Recruiting thousands of guards may increase security presence in vulnerable communities, but deployment without reliable salaries, food, communications, equipment, intelligence support and adequate protection could undermine the entire programme.
There is also an important accountability point: the claims about unpaid salaries and inadequate equipment are allegations from affected operatives reported by SaharaReporters. They require clear responses from the relevant federal and state authorities.
But if guards tasked with confronting terrorists are hungry, unpaid and inadequately equipped, the problem goes beyond their welfare. It becomes a national security vulnerability.
The critical question is therefore: How can Nigeria expect forest guards to defend vulnerable communities against heavily armed criminals when the personnel themselves say they lack the basic resources needed to remain at their posts?
