NEMA reviews 2018 emergency situations in FCT

The Abuja Operations Office, National  Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has reviewed how all emergency situations in the territory were handled in 2018.

Mr Bitrus Samuel, Head, Abuja Operations, NEMA, said on Wednesday that the review would help the agency respond better to changes and close gap on emergency cases.

Samuel spoke in Abuja at a stakeholders’ meeting to appraise the 2018 Preparedness and Responses to Emergencies in the FCT.

He said that the meeting would establish if the partnership had yielded significant results in recent past.

He said the meeting would help in preparedness and identify lessons learned from previous responses in four major emergencies which occurred in FCT.

The four major emergency areas are:  flooding, building collapse, fire in AA Rano Petrol station and the Airforce Fighter jet plane crash which all occurred in 2018.

He said that the cases had opened the eyes of stakeholders to ways of preventing future occurrence.

H said “As we know, responding to most emergencies require multi-agency efforts.

“As such, there is need for us to continue to work together as a team with strong synergy so as to adequately respond to the challenges and need required in emergency situations.

“It is a global best practice for organisations to hold stakeholders meeting routinely to assess and review their actions.

“Efforts and activities to enable respondents make changes, close the gaps and improve on their actions where necessary”.

Also, Alhaji Abbas Idris, Director-General, FEMA, said the essence of the meeting was to look at what happened in the outgoing year and bring solutions to prevent such in the years ahead.

Idris, who was represented by Mr Ado Sumaila, a director in the agency commended the Head of Abuja Operations for his efforts at combating emergency situations.

Similarly, CP Bala Chiroma, Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, said that the issues of emergency could not be tackled alone.

He called for collaboration among all security agencies in the FCT to ensure safety.

Chiroma, who was represented by CSP Yakubu Sule, noted that the recent plane crash at Mpape, Abuja was managed through efforts of security agencies and NEMA officials.

The Director, FCT Fire Service, Mr Julius Opetunsi, represented by Mr Abdul Ashafa, Enforcement Officer, said the meeting was timely.

He called for more collaboration from all relevant bodies in order to save lives and property.

(NAN)