By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Conservator General of the National Park Service, Dr Ibrahim Goni has responded to reports of bandits invasion at Gashaka Gumti National Park in Taraba state.
Goni, during a webinar conference on Monday, corrected the false and misleading news report by a Television Station that bandits have taken over part of the Gashaka Gumti National Park.
He said, “Right now, we have our partners and tourists at our various parks across the country, and to the best of our knowledge no part of the park has been declared a hide-out for bandits by the security operatives.”
He said the Television Station attributed the quote to Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku but the video used by the same station showed otherwise.
“We carefully listened to the governor’s sound bite and quote here exactly what the governor said below:
“`You can’t go to tourism places when you are not sure of your life, you can’t go to tourism when you are afraid of kidnapping. You can’t go to any tourist site when the insecurity is alarmingly high.
“One therefore wonders what part of the speech translated to bandits taking over the park, or any part thereof.
“We wish to let the public know that the said report is entirely false.
“At the Service, our doors are always open for enquires and even suggestions that will help us deliver world class tourist attractions.
“So what the reporter could have done was to get in touch and get clarifications and do a proper fact check before misleading the public.
“We wish to categorically state that Gashaka Gumti National Park or any part thereof has NOT been taken over by bandits or any other clandestine group or groups,’’ he assured.
Also speaking, Mr Kabir Mohammed, Conservator of Park, Gashaka Gumti National Park located between Taraba & Adamawa States, said that the management has remained committed to achieving her mandate as enshrined in Act 46 Cap 65 LFN 2010 as amended.
“The Park is the largest, most scenic and diverse conservation enclave in Nigeria and reputed to be a safe haven to some highly endangered species of wildlife.
“Like any other conservation enclave across the globe, we are faced with some anthropogenic challenges that sometimes impact negatively on her desired development.
“Nonetheless, the management has continued to strive very hard to maintain the integrity of the park through its numerous strategies and operations’’.
According to the Nation, he said some of the strategies deployed include collaboration with the Nigeria Army, Police, DSS and even the vigilante groups to stem the tide of growing security threats around the Park and adjoining communities.