Why some states experience inadequate emergency response – CG fire service
By Sadiq Abubakar, Abuja.
The Controller General (CG) of the fire service, Eng Jaji Olola Abdulganiyu, said some states across the country experience inadequate emergency response because due to challenges of lack of enough fire fighting equipment and manpower.
Abdulganiyu, spoke when he received the commissioner for Public Complaints Commission (PCC) representing FCT, Ezekiel Musa Dalhatu, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja, on Friday.
He also identified attacks by some angry youths on his staff on line duties and damaging of firefighting equipments as another challenge facing the service.
He said though, the inadequacy led to the federal government to intervention under the immediate past administration of president Muhammadu Buhari, which he said 166 fire fighting vehicles were procured.
According to him, security concerns that resulted to loss of lives of the service staff and damage to equipment, which he said sometimes resulted to the fire service to avoid some certain high-risk areas.
The fire service controller general disclosed that another 21 firefighting vehicles have also been procured under the present minister of Interior, which he said are awaiting distribution to some states.
Abdulganiyu, while emphasizing the importance of establishment of desk officers between the Public Complaints Commission and the fire service, assured that commission of collaboration to ensure service delivery.
Earlier, the FCT PCC commissioner, Ezekiel Musa Dalhatu, informed the fire service CG of how the commission has been addressing administrative injustices and various citizens’ grievances in the FCT.
He also cited how the commission received complaints from residents of Ketu and Karshi, where people reported to have faced difficulties in reaching the fire service for assistance during emergencies.
He, however, attributed such issues to communication challenges, saying there was the need for improved public awareness of the services provided by fire service.
He, therefore, expressed the need for closer cooperation between government agencies and the commission to achieve better results.
The PCC commissioner,who is a native of the FCT, commended the CG fire service to considering the indigenes of the territory during recruitment, even as he appealed to him to improve more during any recruitment exercise in the country.
