Ayade Goes Tough on Illegal Loggers

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

Cross River State Governor, Professor Ben Ayade, yesterday vowed that his government would wholeheartedly fight illegal wood loggers in the state whose nefarious activities he lamented have led to progressive depletion of the state forest reserve.

Communities which are forest bearing, the governor regretted, had been massively dislocated, and their land mass completely eroded, thus creating huge environmental challenges with a cumulative long term consequence.

Addressing journalists in his office, the governor threatened to use any political appointee and security agents who aid and abet illegal loggers as a scapegoat.

According to him, “Cross River State has 58 percent of the entire forest cover of Nigeria. We have growing concerns about the rate and the speed of depletion of our forests.

“It is against this background that I am sending a note of final warning that I cannot watch the complete degeneration of our forest, as we see illegal logging becoming the order of the day.

“From today, anybody caught with illegal wood, your vehicle, the driver, the

occupants of that vehicle, the destination of the stolen wood, the government official who is colluding, or the security operatives who are colluding or the forest guards who are colluding will be picked up and dealt with decisively. We will ensure that we involve the entire global community to sit and watch and monitor your prosecution to ensure that justice is done.”

Ayade lamented that the illegal loggers have now developed into full-blown armed cartels who are prepared to harm anyone standing in their way.

He, however, assured the state that “we are ready to use as scapegoats one or two people who are holding top government offices or people who feel they are connected to the governor or those who feel they are politicians and create an impression that by the appointments they have, they can now collude with illegal wood loggers.”