The Nigerian Army has taken over the Old Oyo National Park and converted the facility into a training centre as part of efforts to strengthen security in the area.
The General Officer Commanding, GOC, 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen Auwalu Mahmuda, disclosed this following the abduction and subsequent rescue of more than 40 schoolchildren and their teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Mahmuda made the disclosure when he received members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Oyo State Council, at the division’s headquarters in Odogbo, Ibadan.
He said the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Waidi Shuaibu, had directed the 2 Division to utilise the park as a training ground, leading to the Army’s takeover of the facility.
According to the GOC, the initiative is aimed at securing the expansive forest area and preventing criminals from turning it into a hideout.
Mahmuda explained that deploying troops to the park would also enable soldiers to conduct exercises in terrain similar to the forest environment in which criminal elements could operate.
He said the presence of the military in the area was necessary to reinforce security and avert a recurrence of incidents such as the abduction of the schoolchildren and their teachers.
The development follows the abduction of the students and teachers in Oriire months ago, an incident that led to increased security operations across parts of Oyo State.
Army converts Old Oyo National Park to training centre after Oriire abduction