The Federal Fire Service
has appealed to the National Assembly to hasten the passage of the fire bill before it to enable the service to discharge its functions effectively.
The spokesman of the service, Mr Olatunde Obisesan, made the appeal last Thursday in Abuja at the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA).
Obisesan also appealed to government to adequately fund the service, saying the lack of logistics, inadequate personnel and fund were hampering it.
He said the service played a very important role in security and protection of lives and property, as well as fighting fire outbreaks.
The spokesman said that the service engaged in surveillance and information sharing with relevant security agencies through “Fire Safety Inspection’’ and taking part in search and rescue operations during emergencies and disasters.
He said existing firefighting equipment in the country were obsolete and needed replacement and the lack of hydrant in places other than the services’ premises was hampering firefighting.
“The economy of the nation can be well protected by fire service, every fire incident involving individuals or buildings of organisations affects the economy,’’ he said.
He added that what the service required was adequate training for its men and technology to enable it to prevent fire outbreaks, rather than to react to fire incidents.
He said that apart from the fire stations in the FCT and Lagos State, government had set up fire stations in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Enugu to bring the service closer to the people.
Also, Mr Ezekiel Manzo, the Press Officer, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said the Agency recently distributed relief materials in large quantities to members of the Chibok community.
Manzo said the Director-General of NEMA, Mr Mohammed Sani-sidi, had spearheaded the distribution of materials to communities affected by terrorists’ activities in the North-East.
He said this was to motivate other emergency officers to render support in the crisis zone.
The spokesman said the Agency had established five ambulance centres with Mobile Intensive Care Units (MICUs) at strategic locations in the FCT.
He said such units would be set up in the six geo-political zones across the country.