By Sani Gazas Chinade, Damaturu
The Yobe State Government says no fewer than 1,886 trained forest guards have been recruited, armed and deployed to support ongoing military operations against Boko Haram insurgents in the state.
The Special Adviser on Security Matters to the Yobe State Government, Brig Gen Dahiru Abdulsalam (rtd), disclosed this during an interview with defence correspondents in Damaturu on Tuesday
He said the deployment of the forest guards was aimed at complementing the efforts of troops of Operation HADIN KAI, local hunters and other security agencies in blocking operational gaps exploited by terrorists across remote communities and forest corridors.
According to him, Yobe has remained at the forefront of the insurgency since the emergence of the extremist movement in Kanama in 2003, when the group was initially referred to as the “Nigerian Taliban” before the full-scale insurgency began in 2009.
He explained that the insurgency intensified in Yobe from 2011, forcing the state government at that time to shoulder a significant part of the operational burden, including payment of troop allowances, logistics support, rations and provision of operational vehicles.
“From 2011 to 2015, the state government solely supported many aspects of the operation because the initial federal attention was largely concentrated on Borno State,” he said.
The adviser noted that the military campaign had evolved over the years from Joint Task Force Restore Order to Operation Zaman Lafiya, Operation Lafiya Dole and now Operation HADIN KAI, with each transformation aimed at injecting new operational energy into the counterinsurgency campaign.
He identified seven local government areas in Yobe East Senatorial District — Gulani, Gujba, Damaturu, Tarmuwa, Bursari, Yusufari and Geidam — as the areas most affected by insurgent activities due to their proximity to Borno State and trans-border routes linked to Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
