The Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Olusola Odumosu, has said that most fire disasters and gas explosions are caused by negligence, expressing his absolute determination to prevent occurrence of such disasters.
Odumosu stated this when he hosted a meeting of Nigeria Fire Extinguisher (NFEC) Control, in his office. Acting Public Relations Officer of NSCDC FCT Command, Monica Ojobi, made this known in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
Addressing a delegation from the Nigeria Fire Extinguisher Control in his office, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja, Dr. Odumosu, said, the prevention of fire disasters and gas explosions is sacrosanct to ensure that lives and properties of residents of the FCT are protected in line with the mandate of the Corps.
“The management of disasters is one of our core mandates, and we can not afford to be lackadaisical about it especially in view of the dangers associated”.
Commandant Odumosu, said it has become imperative to ensure the prevention of gas explosions and the regulations and control of fire extinguishing system in homes, markets, offices and public space following tragedies that often results from negligence, use of substandard safety equipment and a lack of coordinated response system.
He decried the situation where FCT like several urban centres are experiencing growing risk posed by the rapid proliferation of gas facilities ranging from retail outlets to industrial storage points.
” While gas remains a vital source of energy, the associated hazards particularly explosion risks have made it clear that protective intervention is non- negotiable, that is why, it is significant and it marks a milestone commitment to protection of lives, property and National Critical Infrastructure”
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” Our goal is to prevent explosion before they occur and not to respond after the damage is done, in parallel, the Nigeria Fire extinguisher Control is being implemented to combat a silent yet deadly threat, the proliferation of expired or fake fire extinguisher”.
“Through this system, we will monitor, certify and track fire extinguishers across the FCT, ensuring compliance with National standards and removing unsafe equipment from circulation, Odumosu stated.
According to the FCT Boss, he has been directed by the Commandant General, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, mni, OFR, to make sure the system is not passive and also work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure full awareness enforcement.
He stated further that the system combines smart surveillance and leak detection technologies, early warning systems integrated with emergency hot lines and response unit; inter – agency coordination platform to unify data, alerts and enforcement as well as community focused awareness campaigns to educate residents and business owners on safe gas usage and emergency response steps.
He urged all stakeholders, regulators, vendors, landlords and citizens to embrace this system, comply with safety protocol enforce standards, raise awareness and preparedness and report risk as soon as they arise.
Responding, the National Coordinator of the Nigeria Fire Extinguisher Control Mr. Benson Olatunji, said the programme was focused on ensuring that they have the location of all cooking gas vendors to provide handy data to pave way for easy strategy in case of an emergency amongst other responsibilities.
He decried a situation where gas vendors have no orientation, documentation or formal training , saying that of 210 locations visited so far, only seven(7) of them have fire extinguishers, a number he said was insignificant saying that the programme is bent on ensuring that the sector is sanitized.
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