Segun Atanda/
Deputy Commander General of the Nigerian Forest Security Service (NFSS) and Professor of English at the University of Ibadan, Nelson Fashina, has urged the Federal Government to formally recognise and institutionalise the forest security outfit following the deadly Ahoro-Esinle abductions and killings in Oyo State.
Fashina made the appeal amid mounting outrage over last Friday’s attack in the Ogbomoso axis of the state, where armed kidnappers reportedly abducted school principals, teachers, pupils and residents.
Two people were also killed during the invasion.
The incident has heightened fears across communities in the agrarian region and renewed concerns over worsening insecurity in forested parts of Oyo State.
Describing the bloodshed as “an abomination” and “a sacrilege”, Fashina said the killings violated Yoruba cultural values and demanded urgent intervention from both the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde and President Bola Tinubu.
“Our cosmology in Yoruba land is averse to the shedding of human blood or slaughtering humans like cows, goats and chickens,” he said in a strongly worded statement.
He accused armed “bandit Fulanis” of unleashing terror on innocent residents and warned that the continued attacks posed a grave threat to communities across Oke Ogun.
Fashina called on the Federal Government to urgently back the legal recognition and operational integration of the Nigerian Forest Security Service, arguing that existing security agencies were overstretched in confronting criminal gangs operating inside forests.
“The Federal and the Oyo State Government should rise up to the occasion and declare a State of Emergency on Insecurity. They must do all things possible to rescue those school principals, teachers, pupils and children that have been kidnapped,” he said.
He added that government should accelerate necessary action to give the NFSS official backing as part of broader efforts to strengthen grassroots security and forest surveillance nationwide.
According to him, the vast forests stretching across Oke Ogun and adjoining communities require a dedicated security structure with local intelligence capabilities.
“We can secure the vast Oke Ogun forest and all communities in Oyo State. Amotekun and the Police cannot do it alone,” he added.
The latest appeal comes days after reports emerged that one of the abducted teachers in the Ahoro-Esinle attack, Michael Oyedokun, was allegedly killed in captivity, with disturbing footage of his remains circulated online, deepening public anger and anxiety over insecurity in the area.
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