According to the aggrieved applicants, the recruitment process was initially presented as merit-based, with priority given to individuals who had previously volunteered for community vigilante groups and local security outfits.
Applicants shortlisted for the newly established Forest Guard security outfit under President Bola Tinubu’s administration have accused the Kwara State Government of politicising the screening process and deliberately favouring members and loyalists of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
SaharaReporters gathered that the applicants are currently camped at the Hajj Camp in Ilorin, situated around the Ilorin West Local Government Area Secretariat in Wara, Ilorin, Kwara State, where screening and preliminary training exercises are being conducted.
However, dozens of shortlisted applicants who spoke to SaharaReporters said they were shocked to discover that their names were removed from the recruitment list and replaced with individuals described as loyalists of influential APC chieftains and key figures within the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
According to the aggrieved applicants, the recruitment process was initially presented as merit-based, with priority given to individuals who had previously volunteered for community vigilante groups and local security outfits.
They said this criterion was clearly communicated during the application stage and formed the basis upon which they were shortlisted.
“From the beginning, they told us the selection was for people who had experience as vigilantes or had volunteered to protect their communities,” one of the affected applicants told SaharaReporters.
He added, “That was why many of us were happy and hopeful. But suddenly, during screening, our names disappeared without explanation.”
The applicants alleged that those who replaced them had no background in security or paramilitary work but were included due to their political affiliations or personal connections to those in power.
“People who have never stood guard or chased criminals from their communities were brought in just because they are party loyalists,” another applicant said.
“Some of them don’t even understand the basic responsibility of a forest guard, but they were selected because they know politicians.”
Several applicants further alleged that some of the newly admitted recruits openly admitted they did not follow the formal application process.
“Some of them were boasting that they didn’t even apply like we did,” a disgruntled applicant said.
“They said they were ‘called’ by party leaders and government officials. This is painful because many of us left our farms, jobs, and families to answer this call.”
SaharaReporters learned that the Kwara State Government has already trained a first batch of Forest Guard recruits, who reportedly left the Hajj Camp about three weeks ago. The second batch is currently undergoing screening and training at the same facility.
The applicants expressed concern that the alleged politicisation of the recruitment exercise could seriously weaken the effectiveness of the Forest Guard, which was established to combat insecurity, illegal mining, logging, and criminal activities in forested areas.
“If you recruit people based on politics instead of competence, the whole purpose of the forest guard is defeated,” one applicant said. “Security is not something you joke with. Lives are at stake.”
Others warned that sidelining experienced vigilantes who understand local terrain and criminal patterns could expose rural communities to greater danger.
“We know these forests. We know the hideouts and the routes criminals use,” an applicant added. “Replacing us with people who only have party cards will not stop banditry.”
As of the time of filing this report, efforts by SaharaReporters to obtain an official reaction from the Kwara State Government were unsuccessful.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, did not respond to text messages sent to him seeking his reaction to these developments.