“Some operators were crushed to death while falling rosewood:” A beehive of illegal logging in Nigeria despite the ban

The Colonist Report Africa discovered that, despite the state governor’s ban on African rosewood, massive logging continues in North East Nigeria

Idris Ibrahim

March 15, 2024. 6:31am

The Colonist Report Africa investigation has shown that there is a growing amount of illegal rosewood logging taking place in villages in Taraba State, northeastern Nigeria.

Piles of chopped rosewood had already been left on the ground in Zaure’s public areas when The Colonist Report Africa visited the villages of Zaure Uku, Dakka, and Pamanga in the Bali Local Government Area on three separate occasions: December 31, 2023, January 26, and February 8, 2024. Big trucks were observed moving the refined rosewood out of the village.

The Dakka community, which is located near the Dakka Forest Reserve, transforms into a beehive, with timber processing machinery in full swing. Following that, large trucks transported the processed wood to an unidentified location.

The Colonist Report Africa managed to film brief footage of the trucks carrying wood in Dakka village, which is 30 km away from Dakka Forest Reserve but was unable to get up close to take pictures of the truck drivers and dealers due to security concerns.

The Colonist Report Africa observed that the communities are experiencing desert encroachment, as loggers have cut down trees close to them. Further investigation, revealed that these woods were cut from different forests, including the reserved forest within the Bali LGA.

Data from the 2017 International Journal of Geography and Geology showed that Taraba has 98 plantations and 49 forest reserves, covering an estimated 1,442 square kilometres of land. Of the forest, 12 are non-gazetted and 27 are gazetted.

According to Global Forest Watch, Taraba State had the fourth-most tree cover losses between 2001 and 2022, with 122kha. In 2021 and 2022, Taraba lost 6.65 kha of humid primary forest, 22% of its tree cover. The humid primary forest of Taraba lost 2.8%. The effects include soil erosion, wildlife extinction, desertification, and livelihood disruption.

From 2021 to 2022, Bali lost 5.1 percent of its tree cover, equivalent to 63 ha of humid primary forest. During this time, Bali’s humid primary forest shrank by 0.85%. Global Forest Watch data show 567 ha of tree cover loss and 389 kt of CO2 emissions in local government areas.

Community forest threats persisted. Between February 26 and March 4, 2024, Global Forest Watch reported 19 Bali deforestation alerts covering less than 1 hectare.

Rosewoods are used to make musical instruments, high-end furniture, and rosewood oil, which makes them extremely valuable and pricey worldwide.

When Taraba State Governor Agbu Kefas outlawed and banned the logging of African rosewood, also known as “Madrid” in the region, eight months ago, some locals were relieved of the anguish caused by the felling of the trees. Despite the state governor’s ban on rosewood, The Colonist Report Africa found that widespread deforestation continues.

Rosewood loggers

Auwalu, an illegal logger from Zaure Uku village, suffered partial blindness while felling a rosewood tree. He told The Colonist Report Africa that the sawdust from the rosewood while cutting the tree caused him to lose his vision.

“The sawdust is very dangerous,” he said.

Shaibu Mohammed, a resident of Jalingo, the state capital, told The Colonist Report Africa that he once participated in illegal rosewood logging and witnessed the deaths of other loggers while cutting down the trees.

“I was once a logger, an operator precisely, and the activities of our operation have led to the deaths of several vibrant youths in our community.

“Some operators were crushed to death while cutting down massive trees like Rosewood, while others were suffocated to death by sawdust while working for the Chinese nationals,” Mohammed said.

It is unclear where the woods are transported to and who the buyers are, but Simon Baba, a resident of Sunkani, Ardo Kola local government area of the state, claims that some “Chinese nationals are directly responsible for most of the exploitation of Rosewood in Taraba over the years.”

“As we speak, there are little or no rosewood trees in Pamanga, Bakin Duste, alongside the Dakka forest axis.

“During the tenure of former governor Darius Ishaku, loggers used to transport 20 to 30 trucks fully loaded with cultivated rosewood trees that are being transported out of the state almost daily,” he said.

At the time of filing this report, The Colonist Report Africa was unable to independently verify the involvement of some Chinese nationals in the demand for rosewood trees in Taraba, as claimed by Mohammed and Baba; however, previous investigations show that rosewood from Taraba is sent to China.

A community leader in Zaure Uku, who preferred not to reveal his identity for fear of being targeted, told The Colonist Rport Africa that the practice of logging Rosewood trees has been going on for more than two decades with little or no opposition from the government or relevant authorities.

According to the septuagenarian, constant deforestation has resulted in increased heat waves, desertification, and flooding, all of which have had a negative impact on local residents.

“During rainfall, we usually experience disasters like floods, and rain storms with wind capacity strong enough to deroof most of the roofing sheets of houses in our community,” he added.

Another resident, identified only as Waziri, claims that “During the administration of the immediate past governor, the state witnessed massive exploitation of Rosewood trees carried out by locals and expatriates.”

Deforestation contributes to climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for Indigenous people, according to the World Bank. Forests remove around 16 billion metric tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere annually, or about half of the annual CO2 released from burning fossil fuels.

Fuel wood loggers

The Colonist Report Africa findings show that fuel wood is another major economic resource in rural communities across the 16 local areas of Taraba State. Thus, despite the continuous public outcry over deforestation along the edges of the state’s forest reserves, the firewood industry is booming and profitable in both rural and urban areas.

Taraba is one of Nigeria’s top ten poorest states, according to the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2022 Report released by the Nigerian Statistics Office.

Following several months of investigation by The Colonist Report Africa, it was discovered that, due to the high cost of cooking gas and kerosene, residents, including local beer producers known as ‘burukutu,’ have resorted to using wood as an alternative fuel.

The majority of ‘burukutu’ vendors need a large amount of dismantled firewood to cook and process their locally brewed beer.

Ibrahim Alhassan, Chairman of the Firewood Fellers Association, Jalingo Branch, denied that any of his members were involved in illegal logging in Taraba forests.

“We only cut down dead standing woods that are badly affected by fire during bush burning,” Alhassan told The Colonist Report Africa with a crisped face.

Aliyu Yahaya, a firewood businessman, reechoed what the union’s chairman had said, adding that farmers cultivating farmlands near forest reserves are responsible for the persistent encroachment into most forest and game reserves through bush burning.

Government Response

Several attempts by The Colonist Report Africa to obtain comments from the commissioner of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Mrs. Aishat Barde, were unsuccessful, despite three visits to her office between February 14 and 26.

The Colonist Report Africa also reached out to the commissioner on WhatsApp for comment. In her message, she stated that a task force committee has already been formed to address this issue (illegal logging in the state).

“You should communicate to the committee for any information, please,” she added. She never answered requests for contact information to get in touch with the committee chairman again.

Expert Reacts

Benneth Anokwu, a forestry technology expert and well-known forester, worries about the constant illegal logging of trees in Taraba.

Anakwu, who is also the Head of Department at the College of Agriculture in Jalingo, told The Colonist Report Africa that the majority of logging activities in the state are carried out without proper permission from the appropriate authorities, resulting in the extinction of animals such as chimpanzees.

“The chimpanzees you know are now endangered species, and if care is not taken, they might go into extinction. And that is why certain areas have been gazetted.”

“If you look at animals like elephants, you will see that they [illegal loggers] go there to kill them for their tusks, which are highly valuable,” he continued. “They will kill both the chimpanzees and the elephants without caring about their population.

Anakwu pointed out that falling trees without planting at least two more of the same kind is prohibited. “I don’t think the perpetrators of this forest crime are taking into cognizance the norms of foresters, and it is disturbing.”

Most of the poaching activities in the state occur around the forest axis of Gashaka-gumti Park in Gashaka LG, said Anakwu. “The government has sanctioned people not to go there. The action was to prevent poachers from killing them.”

He allegedly stated that Taraba’s forest legislation is feeble and compromised, adding that most fellers obtain legal permits to exploit trees of high economic value at the expense of the people, with no regard for the inherent consequences.

“I will not say the government is not doing their job, but some of them are compromising standards by issuing permits illegally to illegal fellers,” Anakwu noted.

Edited by Woke Kevin and Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi

This report is owned and published by The Colonist Report Africa and The Colonist Report. No part or all of this report can be republished without prior consent from management. Kindly email elfredahalerechi@thecolonistreport.com for inquiries.