Three persons were killed with property worth N860 million destroyed in different fire incidents from Jan. 1 to Dec. 7 in the state.
This was revealed by the Fire Prevention Officer of Sokoto State Fire Service, Nuhu Lawal, in a lecture titled, ”Overview of Fire Outbreaks in Sokoto state” and organized by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sokoto State Operation Office.
He said the agency responded to 433 incidents and about N7 billion property were saved within the period, adding that the fire service has fire fighting vehicles at each of the 23 local government areas, besides those in the three senatorial districts and selected places.
He decried the spate of fake emergency calls from some unscrupulous elements as the agency ensured timely response to distress calls.
“At times when our men arrived at the stated scenes, it usually occurred that there was no fire outbreak in the mentioned area.”
NEMA Head, Sokoto Office, Mr Aliyu Kafindangi, explained the stakeholders meeting was part of the strategies to attract attention and enlighten citizens against fire disaster as harmattan had commenced.
Kafindangi said NEMA will carry out road walks and public places awareness campaigns to sensitise people to fire incidents.
In his paper titled: “Overview of Disaster Management”, he said disaster response is a collective responsibility, stressing that NEMA could not do it alone.
He underscored the importance of synergy between actors, comprising state and federal fire service, SEMA, NOA, security agencies and others.
Kafindangi lamented that based on disaster forecasts, NEMA had issued five letters of caution, the need for early response and others to the Sokoto State Government without a single response.
