Niger State Government employ services of 500 green guards

   The Niger State Government has employed the services of 500 green guards for effective patrolling and policing of forests in the state.

     The Commissioner for Environment, Dr Aliyu Tangwagi, made this known in an interview with newsmen today in Minna.
   He said that the state government had spent N24 million for the payment of allowances to members of the green guards, saying that the green guards had been trained on effective patrol of the forests in the state.
The commissioner solicited for the support of traditional rulers so as to curb indiscriminate cutting down of trees in the state.
   He said that members of the green guards would continue to work with royal fathers to ensure maximum protection for the state`s forests.

   Tangwagi also called on the mass media to do more in sensitizing residents on the dangers involved in cutting down of economic trees, sating that  such enlightenment would go a long way in educating members of the general public to desist from arbitrary cutting down of trees.