Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba has assured the nation that the force remains committed to deploying both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches in tackling crimes.
Gatekeepers News reports that Baba gave the assurance on Tuesday during the flag-off of the One – Nigerian – One – Tree, National Tree Planting Initiative, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The IGP, while noting that there was a strong connection between climate change and internal security, observed that human activities including desertification, deforestation and other elements of climate change were major drivers of poverty, crimes, and insecurity generally.
He said the intense rivalry and competition for natural resources between farmers and herders occasioned by climate change was at the root of some of the violent clashes, not only in Nigeria but across the sub-Sahara and the Sahel region.
The IGP commended the organisers of the programme, the Greater Nigeria Initiative, and expressed his belief that the initiative, which constituted one of the non-kinetic approaches of the Force in combating crime, would assist the Force in proactively responding and addressing the increasingly broadened and complex security threats in the country.
The IGP who pledged the commitment of the Force to the 25m Tree Planting Initiative of the Federal Government, assured that the exercise would be replicated across all zonal and state commands towards addressing the alarming deforestation challenges occasioned by climate change.
