FEMA seeks emergency line expansion, tasks FRSC on traffic laws


The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has urged the federal government to expand the scope and operators manning the 112 emergency toll free number to further reduce the response time. 

In a statement in Abuja, signed by Head of Public Relations Unit, Nkechi Isa,the Director General of FEMA, Alhaji Abbas Idriss, informed that 90 per cent of FEMA’s distress calls come through the 112 number, noting that this shows that the people have access and are using the number frequently, hence the need to improve on its scope to reduce the waiting time by callers. 

Lauding the recent launch of the 5G network by the government, he stressed  that MDAs must digitize their systems to ensure the full utilisation of the technology.

According to the DG, FEMA intends to deploy technology in tackling disasters particularly during flooding. 

In a related development, FEMA has asked the Federal Road Safety Corps,(FRSC), to enforce the speed, overloading and other relevant laws to reduce road crashes in the FCT.

Alhaji Idriss noted that road crashes have reached an alarming rate due to reckless driving by motorists, appealing to the FRSC to enforce the laws on overloading and the wearing of seat belts. 

According to the the DG, these laws are critical as they are meant to reduce casualties on our roads, saying “at a point where nobody is to die, ten die due to reckless driving, overloading and not wearing seat belts.”

He also decried the absence of extinguishers in most vehicles, adding  that even where there is one it is often expired, revealing that in 2021, FEMA  saved 217 people from various road rescue operations, while 17 lives were fatally injured.