By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
Chairman of Taraba State Task Force on Environmental Protection, Public Safety and Deforestation, Brigadier General Jeremiah Faransa, has said that at least 22 forest reserves in the state “have been destroyed and made farmlands and mining sites”.
He also said that some foreign nationals, including Chinese and some West African citizens involved in illegal mining have been arrested.
Faransa, while addressing the media in his office in Jalingo, yesterday, said the culprits have been handed over to the mobile courts for prosecution.
He stated: “The level of destruction cannot be quantified. The soil has been destroyed. There is massive destruction of forests. The global warming is right before our nose. We have made recommendations, one of which is tree planting campaigns. If not in some years to come Taraba would be worse than Borno. We have details from day one of arrests. Citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger were handed over to the mobile court. Chinese nationals were arrested too”.