The Federal Government has expanded the Presidential Forest Guards Initiative to 10 states, with over 9,000 personnel trained to strengthen security in forests and other ungoverned areas used by kidnappers, bandits and other criminal groups.

The Office of the National Security Adviser said the latest phase covers Kaduna, Edo and Kogi states, where more than 2,000 forest guards have completed training and will soon be deployed to identified security hotspots.

The initiative is coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser and implemented with support from the Department of State Services, the National Intelligence Agency, Defence Headquarters, the Nigeria Police Force and the National Park Service, in partnership with participating state governments.