Inside Nigeria’s forests of death

Many forests in Nigeria are the hideout of choice for criminals while they go on their crime sprees across the country. These include kidnappers, cattle rustlers, armed robbers, cultists, and terrorists, from forests in Borno, Kaduna, Zamfara, Kebbi, AkwaIbom, Kano, Bauchi, Niger, Ogun, Rivers and other states, carry out daring attacks that have led to the loss of many lives.  
Sambisa Forest in Borno State is notorious for being the haven of Boko Haram insurgents and is believed to be the same forest that cuts across Chad, Niger, and Cameroun. Before the advent of the terrorists in 2009, it was an underutilized area housing the undeveloped Sambisa Game Reserve and some farming communities where animal grazing, hunting, and farming activities took place. But when youth from Maiduguri, armed with sticks and clubs in what later became the Civilian Joint Taskforce (Civilian JTF) revolted against the insurgents and forced them to flee from Maiduguri, the state capital, in 2012 and 2013, the found refuge in Sambisa Forest.
There has been criticism as to why the terrorists were able to settle in Sambisa Forest. Mala Modu, a retired Forestry officer, blamed the inability of government to develop and maintain Sambisa Game Reserve years many years before.  “Since the insurgency started, did you hear of a lion or elephant running out of that place? But government had for several years been earmarking money for the animals in the game reserve. It is now that we realize it was an empty game reserve,” he said, adding that the presence of wild animals and trained game guards, it would have been easy to assist the military in tracking down the insurgents. Rather, several months after they occupied the area, nobody knew the forest as much as they did.
In Kaduna, the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Forestry, Dr. Manzo Daniel Maigari pointed out that forest reserves have been invaded by bandits and have since been serving as cover for criminals in the state. Such forests are the old Birnin Gwari Forest Reserve and the Kamuku National Park, which have posed a major challenge. “You will notice around Katari along Abuja road that we have a special contingent of mobile policemen and the anti-terrorist squad. In the last few weeks, there has been significant reduction in activities of criminals along the highway,” he said.
Governors of affected states met recently and organized a security operation around the area which is said to have improved the security situation around the forest. Kamuku Forest, which borders Kaduna with other states through Birnin Gwari Local Government Area (LGA) stands out as the most deadly. It borders five states, namely Katsina, Niger, Zamfara and Kebbi. Because of its size, criminal gangs involved in cattle rustling, kidnap, and armed robbery have for several years used it as a hideout. It became so notorious that the villagers in communities dotting its fringes came to believe that anything stolen and taken to the forest is not likely to come out. They recall tales of how herds of cows are taken to the forest and never recovered, while persons abducted are detained in the bushes until ransoms are paid. How villagers are kept in captivity, women raped and various heinous acts take place there. Even travellers along the route have tales to tell.
These attacks are not limited to Birnin Gwari. In Kano, Falgore and Gomo forests in Doguwa and Sumaila have become havens for kidnappers and cattle rustlers for many years. The bandits that were residing in the two forests have been terrorizing communities in Doguwa, Tudun-Wada, Kibiya, Sumaila and parts of Rano LGAs of the state.
Findings have revealed that a gang of bandits, known as Garkuwa, comprising Fulani from Senegal and Cameroon were said to have been operating in the southern part of Kano State. Many people, including women and children were kidnapped and thousands of animals, including cows, sheep, donkeys and goats worth millions of naira were rustled from the various communities around the two forests. Also, ransoms of between N1.5m and N2.5m have been collected from relations of various victims, while many others whose relatives failed to pay were killed.
However, a sad factor which aids these criminals is the link between these forests that allows them shift base and constantly be on the move. This is the case in a state like Bauchi where Lame-Burra forest in Toro LGA, Balmo in Darazo, Buzum in Ganjuwa, and the famous Yankari in Alkaleri LGA are noted for criminal activities. This is mainly because of the state’s location as the gate-way to the North-East, which has made it a haven for kidnappers, cattle rustlers, and armed robbers.
The Assistant Director, Army Public Relations at the 33 Artillery Brigade, Bauchi, Major Joseph Afolashade, said troops have been engaged in series of operations in all the forests in the state and many criminals, including kidnappers, cattle rustlers, armed robbers and other bandits have been dislodged from the forests. He added that it also led to the killing and capture of some members of the criminal gangs as well as rescue of kidnap victims, including women and children.
Afolashade said isolated settlements used by Fulani herdsmen in the forests during the dry season are being used by the criminals as camps during the rainy season as the places are almost inaccessible. He also said operations are being carried out in major black spots deep in the forests, which include Jejin Dutsen Zaki in Ningi Forest, Kanawa, Rugan Abdussalam, Diwa and other places which have been raided in July.
Recently, the Commander of 33 Artillery Brigade Bauchi, Brigadier Abraham Luka Dusu said that troops from the brigade have embarked on an aggressive search and clearance of forests to flush out criminal elements, due to reports of kidnappings and cattle rustling. One of these places is Toro axis, which has seen many cases of kidnappings recently. A district Head and two other persons were kidnapped a little over a month ago.
However the state police command’s spokesperson, ASP Mahmood Mohammed said the kidnap victims were rescued following an operation by the police Anti- Kidnapping unit in collaboration with other security agencies and local vigilantes and the police have been carrying out joint operations with the renown hunter, Alhaji Ali Azare, popularly known as ‘Ali Kwara’.
When it comes to cattle rustling, Zamfara State is one of those topping the list. It has suffered series of deadly raids, with dozens of residents killed and thousands of cattle stolen, especially in Dansadau district of Maru LGA of the state, with the highest casualty recorded in April 2014 at Yar’galadima, a village situated 20 Km north of Dansadau town where more than 100 residents were killed in a single attack.
The state has large forests that make it possible for armed bandits and cattle rustlers to carry out their activities with ease. These include Kuyambana, Burwaye, and Ajja forests, which have become hiding places for criminals, with Kuyambana used as a major base.
Kuyambana Forest, in which Dansadau town and many of the surrounding villages are located, extends to Birnin Gwari in neighbouring Kaduna State and some parts of Kebbi State. It harbours notorious motorcycle-riding gangs of armed bandits and cattle rustlers who move around unchallenged.

A resident, Malam Sani Yar’galadima described Kuyambana as the most dangerous forest after Sambisa. “No-one dares to inch towards his farm without him or her getting killed or at least get robbed,” he said.
Another deadly forest in Zamfara is Burwaye Forest in Anka and Bukkuyum LGAs of the state, which has become a hiding place for armed men who have been terrorizing residents of the rural communities for quite a long time.
“There is nothing mystical about these forests, except they have been allowed to become lodges for criminals. Before these forests became what they are today, we used to go deep into them to get logs for wood and clear lands for farming, but now all these are practically impossible,” another resident, Aliyu Kawaye said.
In Birnin Magaji and Zurmi LGAs of the state also lies the expansive and dangerous Ajja Forest which extends to Batsari and Safana LGAs in the neighbouring Katsina State, from where armed bandits have carried out several deadly attacks on herding and farming communities.
In the South-South, Oyigbo/Eleme road in Rivers State has become a deadly flashpoint for kidnappers who take victims to a thick forest beside the road. For the fact that the road is the only access road leading to Port Harcourt Refinery Company at Alasa Eleme and a large number of the refinery’s staff live in Oyigbo is a reason why the route has become a kidnappers’ delight. 
Eleme Forest, recently branded ‘Evil Forest’, “Is a place I cannot wish my worst enemy to be taken to,” stated Monica (not real name) who was taken captive recently. She was in a church program at Oyigbo not knowing the kidnappers were waiting patiently for her. At the end of the service she was abducted by gun-wielding marauders as she made her way to her car. “They forced me into a waiting vehicle. I was blindfolded and by the time it was removed, I discovered I was in a think forest.” The forest route is a footpath surrounded by wild trees and plants. Located within Eleme/Oyigbo boundary, it is about five kilometres away from the road where the victims are usually abducted.
A relation of a kidnapped victim who was in the forest  recently to pay ransom for the release of her abducted husband about three years ago said the criminals insisted that only the wife of the victim should come for negotiation. “I discovered that the place was inhabitable for a human being. It is a wild forest that harbours all manner of wild trees and plants. You will see dangerous snakes moving around,” she revealed.
Other forests notorious for harbouring criminals include Okochiri, Ulakwo-Etche, Ngbudu-Aluu, and Ula-Upata forests.
At Ula-Upata, heavily armed cultists have in the past taken some residents of the area hostage in the forest. A couple of months ago, the Joint Military Task Force raided the forest where a large cache of arms was recovered and a number of arrests made.
In Ogun State, criminals operating within forests have continued to pose a challenge. While chronicling this occurrencefor nefarious activities under his command, the Ogun State Commander of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Aboluwoye Akinwande said that to overcome the menace, there is need for social security for the citizens of the country.“This will entail transforming the vast forest land that is available, not only in Ogun State, but all over the country, into farming settlements and provision of basic infrastructure, like roads, which will go a long way to reduce, if not eliminate a situation where virtually all our forests have become what I will call ‘evil’ forests.”
Aboluwoye hinted that efforts of his officers and men were often thwarted by the un-co-operative attitude of the forest host community, including traditional rulers. He also listed physical and spiritual challenges, recalling how they spent about four hours to get to a creek forest from the Lagos-Ibadan road to Fidiwo between Ipara and Ogunmakin. “The forest is at Ifote Oluwo. You cannot imagine what we met before or within the forest. It took us days to get our operational vehicles back to Abeokuta. It was one of the toughest assignments of the command,” he said.