The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has disclosed that property worth N3.017 trillion were destroyed in fire incidents in the country.
The Minister said that 166 lives were saved and 82 persons were rescued in distress due to fire and the saved property was valued at N15.1 trillion in the second quarter of 2021 by Nigeria’s Federal Fire Service.
Aregbesola made this known while commissioning the state-of-the-art fire-fighting truck deployed by the Federal Government of Nigeria to complement firefighting in Taraba State recently.
According to the minister, the delivery of the fire truck to Taraba State is further testimony of the President’s resolve to reposition the FFS for better service delivery in line with its core mandate, which includes humanitarian and emergency services.
“Since the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, FFS has experienced a phenomenal transformation from a moribund department to a vibrant organisation equipped with modern and state-of-the-art firefighting equipment and today, we are here to deliver one of the firefighting trucks to Federal Fire Service, Taraba State Command, to be manned by well trained, dedicated and committed personnel,” Aregbesola said.
“We must therefore not restrict fire service requirements or needs to state capitals or urban centres alone. Provisions should be made for Local Governments and rural areas, which have been victims of fire incidents and other emergencies as well. Farms and valuable economic trees have also been destroyed by fires in rural areas.
He explained further that, “I will urge the State Command to reciprocate the Federal Government’s gesture to optimize and effectively use these assets to improve fire cover, enhance emergency response operations and complement State Fire Services operations while enhancing fire safety across the country.
“The good news, however, is that the Service within the quarter under review also saved about 166 lives, rescued about 82 persons in distress due to fire and other related emergencies while saving property worth over N15.1 trillion.”
While urging the state governments to establish a robust fire service to complement what the Federal Fire Service is doing in their respective states, the minister also explained that the equipment being commissioned is part of the N10.4 billion infrastructure upgrade approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on March 3rd, 2021 comprising of 44 firefighting engines, 15 water tankers, 15 rapid intervention fire engines (not conventional ones) that can go into the nooks and crannies to respond to distress calls and 20 basic life support ambulances.