By SUMAILA OGBAJE

The Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS), has expressed its readiness to collaborate with the Anambra Government to rescue its forests from unknown gunmen and other criminal elements.

The service vowed to comb all the forests in the state where killers and kidnappers of innocent citizens had their camps and hideouts.

The Commander of the NFSS, Anambra State Command, Destiny Jonas, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

Jonas said the call became necessary following the kidnap of Anambra lawmaker coupled with the abduction of an Anglican clergy and the killing of a Catholic priest in the state.

He said the recent brutal killings of eight persons in Chigbonu village in Umuike Ubahuekwem in Ihiala on Dec. 30, 2024 by daredevil gunmen as well as other heinous crimes being perpetrated across the state, required synergy with forest security service.

?NFSS is ever willing and ready to offer its expertise in securing the forests and bushes both for economic reasons and security purposes.

?Our operations are mostly in the forests and bushes and we know the terrain very well.

?NFSS will be most obliged to join forces with other security agencies to ensure the success of the ?Operation Udo Ga Di Na Anambra Security Initiative? of the state government intended to rid the hinterlands of criminal elements unleashing terror and mayhem on the people.

?NFSS can gather intelligence to demobilise any kind of force in the forest.

?All that is needed is the collaboration of government agencies and government itself including recognition of the Nigerian Forest Security Service.

?NFSS is ready to rescue Anambra forests from unknown gunmen and other criminal elements but the need for recognition and roundtable discussions are of paramount importance,? he said.

The Commander expressed concerns that investors were fleeing from Anambra to invest in other states because of insecurity in the land.

He said that officers and men of the NFSS had been assisting the Police and other security agencies to ensure safety of those who returned to Anambra for the festive season.

Jonas emphasised that a lot more had to be done to redeem Anambra forests from the tutelage of daredevil gunmen and other criminal minds.

According to him, the impassible remote areas like Achala, Igbariam, Nsugbe and some others were hitch free because men of the NFSS were stationed in those places.

Jonas said that NFSS had identified some flashpoint bushes across the state where it would declare total war on criminal camps from January 2025.

He said all the security outfit required was permission from the authorities to enable them launch massive operations in the identified black spots.

The commander disclosed that some kidnapped victims were rescued by the operatives of the NFSS during the yuletide.

According to him, the plan of NFSS is to make sure that Anambra forests are free from criminal activities like deforestation, kidnappings and all manner of criminalities.

The commander commended the Deputy Commander-General of NFSS, in charge of Intelligence, Dr John Metchie, for his unwavering supports to the service, d?scribing him as an ?enigma?.

He said that Metchie was not only interested in the security and safety of Anambra citizens but also in the protection of lives and property of Nigerians across the country.

He added that Anambra needed more men like Metchies to turn the state around for good.

Jonas also thanked the Commander-General of NFSS, Dr Joshua Osatimehin, for ensuring unity of purpose and cohesion in the service. (Text, excluding headline: NAN)

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