Climate change fueling crime and insecurity – IG

Mr Usman Baba, the Inspector-General of Police, has blamed climate change for the rising crime wave and insecurity threat.
The IG said climate change was one of the major drivers of crime and insecurity in the country while launching a tree-planting campaign in Abuja dubbed “One Nigeria, One Tree.”
According to the IG, there is “a strong link between climate change and internal security.”
“Human activities, such as desertification, deforestation, and other aspects of climate change, are major contributors to poverty, crime, and insecurity in general.”

“The intense rivalry and competition for natural resources between farmers and herders caused by climate change is at the root of some of the violent clashes, not only in Nigeria, but across the Sub-Sahara and Sahel region,” the police chief said.
As a result, he praised the program’s organizers, the Greater Nigeria Initiative, and expressed his belief that the initiative, which is one of the force’s non-kinetic approaches to combating crime, would aid it in proactively responding to and addressing the country’s increasingly broadened and complex security threats.

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He pledged the force’s support for the federal government’s 25 million tree planting initiative, assuring that the exercise would be replicated across all zonal and state commands in order to address the alarming deforestation challenges posed by climate change, create an eco-friendly environment for peaceful coexistence among citizens, and strengthen national security.

The Inspector General assured the nation that the force would continue to use both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to combat crime and criminality in order to improve public safety, health, and security in the country.