Unconfirmed intelligence report reaching us alleged that strangers and unknown persons suspected to be bandits have invaded several forests in Rivers state in preparation for attacks across the state.
Although, we couldn’t cite a copy of the said report, top security sources in the state confirmed the receipt of such report, stressing that it’s more of a proactive step for security agencies to remain on high alert.
However, our discreet investigations revealed that these suspected bandits, allegedly hiding in forests in some LGAs in the state have concluded plans to attack soft spots to distract attention from their main targets of kidnapping school children after resumption of schools in the state.
When contacted for confirmation and comments, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the state Police Command, ASP Blessing Agabe requested for a text message which she is yet to respond to as at the time of this report.
Nevertheless, a reliably high security source, who pleaded anonymity informed our Correspondent that indeed, one security agency in the state, had based on this existing intelligence report written to the state government to empower them into action.
Some members of local vigilante groups across the state who refused names on print for security reasons told our Correspondents that they had indeed cited strange faces in forests in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni (ONELGA), Ikwerre, Oyigbo and Andoni Local Government Areas of the state.
One of them stressed, “we’ve been observing an influx of strangers lately and we are monitoring the situation. We believe that some of them are criminal elements with criminal intentions.”
Another in Ikwerre LGA stressed that bandits invaded their own forest since the disappearance of an OSPAC Commander in IPO town in Ikwerre LGA for the past three months. “We’ve been saying this thing since the disappearance of our son but the government and Police denied and castigated us.”
We couldn’t contact the State Commander of the Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS), Amb. George Esene because, we couldn’t access his telephone line nor visit their state headquarters at Igwuruta in Ikwerre Local Government Area.
But we gathered that the NFSS is the appropriate security arm charged with the responsibility of guarding forests across the country and that they’ve been chasing out terrorists and bandits in other parts of the country, citing the recent example of Oyo state where their operatives first located and blocked the kidnappers in the Oyo forest reserve park before the military moved in.
But that in Rivers state the Nigerian Forest Security Service is facing a lot of logistical challenges, particularly lack of vehicles, the appropriate arms and ammunitions as well as funds for provisions for constant patrols and campings in our forests.
We further learnt that these challenges of NFSS are very well known to the state government. But nothing has been done. Yet, we observed that NFSS operatives are in all the LGAs across the state assisting security operatives with grassroots intelligence in their council areas.
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Security analysts and observers in the state agree that the NFSS needs the state government’s support and backing to chase these suspected bandits from our forests because, according to them, “they are the appropriately trained agency for forests security in the country.”
