Rangers guarding Gashaka Gumti National Park in Taraba State have rescued a 20-year-old lady inside the forest four days after she went missing.

The lady, Losive Ele, went into the thick forest along with five other men for illegal mining but went missing after her co-illegal miners sighted Rangers and ran away.

She told Daily Trust that when the men she went mining with ran away from the site, she also ran away.

According to her, she ran in a different direction without knowing where she was headed.

“I ran for a long distance without meeting any person, and I got tired and sat under a big tree and soon fell asleep.

“It was the brightness of the rising sun that awakened me in the morning, and from there I continued to wander inside the forest without knowing the direction to follow out,” she said.

Losive stated that she continued to wander for four days inside the forest without food, adding that she only drank water from the streams in the forest.

“I was exhausted, starving, and nearly resigned to death. I found a small zinc shelter room near a big river, but as soon as I entered the room, I fell fast asleep.

“I was woken up by two men in uniform who later took me to their office outside the forest,” she said.

According to her, she was taken to the hospital in Serti town, where she was admitted and treated.

The Conservator of Gashaka Gumti National Park, George Karagong, who was astonished by her survival, noted that Losive was exceptionally lucky to have made it out alive.

“This forest is teeming with dangerous wild animals and reptiles, including baboons, capable of killing a lone human,” he said.

He said the park management has been battling with illegal miners, poachers, and loggers whose activities severely threaten the park’s rich biodiversity.

Covering parts of Taraba and Adamawa States, the park has stepped up its security operations through a collaboration with African Nature Investors (ANI), which provides specialised training for Rangers and technical support. (Daily Trust)