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The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Lawal, has emphasized that Nigeria has the lowest forest cover globally, with only 3.7 per cent.
He made this statement during an interview on Unfiltered: The Big Interview on YouTube.
Lawal highlighted the importance of the environment for good health and expressed concern about the decline in Nigeria's forest cover, which is currently below the minimum required percentage for a nation.
He also mentioned that forests have become hiding places for criminals and that the President is committed to addressing this issue.
Lawal discussed the training of judges to prosecute forest and environmental crimes, as well as efforts to restore the ecosystem of Lake Chad.
“Our judges are also being trained on how to prosecute forest crimes. We might extend it to environmental crimes generally because we found out that most of our justices do not give the area the attention it deserves.
“For instance, killing elephants should be a heinous crime because they are very rare. So, the forest is very important, and we are taking lots of measures to address forest issues.” he said
