NESREA partners police on combating environmental crimes

In a move to ensure more meaningful environmental compliance monitoring and enforcement, the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) has partnered the Nigeria Police force in the training of officers.

Considering the benefits of establishing Environmental Laws Enforcement Unit in the Police Force, the training, which took place in Kaduna, was designed to equip and strengthen the capacity of police personnel to enable them contribute more effectively and professionally to the protection of the environment.

It also dwelled on issues pertaining to environmental governance, compliance, monitoring and its enforcement in the country, will go a long way to enforce the laws and regulation related to the environment in Nigeria.

A retired commissioner of Police and lawyer, Lawrence Alobi (Rtd.), who presented a paper titled: “An Overview of the Role of the Police in Enforcing Environmental Laws and Regulations”, at the event, gave insight on the importance of the unit, saying when functioning, it would collaborate, support and work shoulder-to-shoulder with NESREA with a view to combating environmental crimes thereby promoting sustainable development.

He also called for the integration of Environmental Laws and Regulations in the curriculum of all Training Institute of the Force, stressing, Nigeria would be safer and more secured when both work together in enforcing environmental laws and combating environmental crimes.

To the Acting Inspector General of Police, Idris K. Ibrahim, said such environmental programme for the Nigeria Police was very important now that the environment was highly threatened.

According to him, “there is no environment without man, just as there is no man without environment.”

Ibrahim, who was represented by Acting Commandant of Premier College, DCP Abdulrahman stated, that men of the Nigeria Police would be better informed after the training and urged that cautions be adopted to preserve and protect the environment.

He also urged participants to develop the zeal to learn in order to achieve the desired objectives of the programme, explaining that when the environment was preserved, the whole nation was safe.

Earlier, the Director-General of NESREA, Dr. Lawrence Chidi Anukam expressed gratitude to the Inspector General of Police for sanctioning police force participation in the programme. He said the action was a clear testimony of the importance of he attaches to environmental issues.

Dr Anukam said that the environment was under increasing threat as a result of the uncontrolled exploration and exploitation of natural resources and other unsustainable activities that contaminate and despoil the air, water and soil.

“This training is therefore aimed at engaging the Police more meaningfully in environmental compliance monitoring and enforcement activities towards addressing these and many other environmental crimes”, he stated.