The Strategic Communications Interagency Policy Committee (SCIPC) has said the National Park Service (NPS) operatives arrested 621 criminals hibernating forests for various offences between January and October 2024.
The Director of Legal Services Office of the National Security Adviser, Zakari Mijinyawa, gave the figures in his address at the End-of-Year Press Briefing organised by the SCIPC under the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on Monday in Abuja.
He said criminals’ use of forests and National Parks as hideouts had become a national security concern in Nigeria.
He highlighted that parks like Kamuku, Chad Basin, and Kainji Lake have faced violent incursions, which have threatened park management and surrounding communities.
In response, he said the National Park Service has enhanced security through transborder patrols, a cooperation agreement with Cameroon, and joint efforts with security agencies.
” Between January and October 2024, the Service made six hundred and twenty-one (621) arrests for various offences, prosecuted four hundred and sixty-six (466) individuals, and resolved sixty-one (61) cases out of court, underscoring its commitment to enforcing park regulations and protecting Nigeria’s natural resources,”.
Relatedly, the Police High Command said no state governor in any part of the country is unaware of the roadblocks mounted by its personnel on significant highways or some intercity roads in their respective locations.
The force’s spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, responded to some people’s fears over kidnapping incidents on major highways, particularly in the South East. Adejobi said the force had deployed to significant highways to forestall any such occurrence.
He said that Nigerians abroad are trooping into the country to come and enjoy Christmas in their respective communities due to the improved security situation in the country’s nooks and crannies.
“Let me say that we have done strategic deployment, and our deployment across the country is not to intimidate anybody; it is for us to ensure that all our routes, major highways and communities are safe.
“Let me clarify that we don’t have roadblocks in Nigeria; we have stop-and-search points, nipping points, and others. Where you see roadblocks, that is, zigzag movement – be it a log of wood, drums, or anything- must have been at the request of the governor of that state.
“No command will form any roadblocks without the consent of the governor of that state. There are some states where the governors have requested or sought permission of the IGP to have such roadblocks,” the senior police officer said.
The force spokesman said that the senior officers have never sent any officer on patrol to go and make money for them, saying Nigerians should report them via publicised headlines if caught while misbehaving.
He added, “Generally across the country, we have stop-and-search points, and we’ll continue to have such stop-and-search points for now until we have a better system, where we will not have men stopping vehicles and checking your papers, where we have authorised patrol, and when cameras will be monitoring our highways.
“But now, for our good, and the good of our people, plying all these routes. However, where we have issues with the men, we have rolled out our helplines at these various points. We have rolled out our complaint response platforms and numbers. Let us make use of them.
“I’ve not seen any senior man from any agency, particularly in the police, that we muster his name in the name of money and say, guys, apart from Customs that’s for revenue, I’ve not seen any that will say go and raise N10 million for me as you’re going to your point of duty, I’ve not seen it.
“We have briefed our men to go out and do the job; it is not likely that we’ll have some defiant that may want to. When you see them misbehaving on the road, please report them to the police. We have not given you any stick to beat our operatives for us. Report their misconduct to us, and we will do what is needed.
“I travelled over the weekend and saw the number of vehicles plying the Shagamu-Lagos interchange going to the East alone. People are trooping in. They are coming in from abroad. You know, it’s not easy there. It would be best if you enjoyed Christmas in Nigeria; we can manage it ourselves. So, people travel to the East.”