TheCable

Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, says officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) will henceforth accompany firefighters during operations.

Aregbesola said this on Tuesday, during the commissioning of a “state-of-the-art firefighting truck” in Calabar, the Cross River capital.

According to NAN, Aregbesola said the decision to deploy armed officers became necessary, following the attacks on firefighters when responding to emergency situations.

Firefighters responding to a distress call in Kogi, on September 9, had been attacked by hoodlums.

Aregbesola, who condemned the attacks on firefighters, said anyone found culpable will be “dealt with”.

“We are deploying armed personnel of the Civil Defence as the advance team to every fire emergency. They will be armed, so, whoever therefore dares to test our will, will pay dearly for it henceforth,” he said.

“So, to be forewarned, is to be careful as they are to secure every ground of emergency. Enough of willful damage of expensive fire trucks and grievous physical attacks on fire service personnel.

“Some characters just use disdainful excuses to damage and attack our trucks, and grievously so on personnel, and this makes it difficult for them to carry out their assignment.”

The minister also urged residents to ensure they protect firefighting equipment deployed to their communities.

“Our communities now should stand up and own the firefighting equipment deployed and procured for their use at a huge cost,” he said.

“They should be the first line of defence in the face of attacks from vandals, hoodlums, unruly armed elements, and must not allow those characters own the space, because at the end of the day, they will be the ones to suffer for lack of response.

“These personnel attacked are not less Nigerians, but are Nigerians with rights to their own lives, safety and freedom. Nobody has a right than the other.

“They are sons of some people, husbands of some people and wives of some people, so you cannot therefore think you can physically assault them and think you can get away.”

In his remarks, Ben Ayade, governor of Cross River, said the state will work on acquiring more modern firefighting trucks to help safeguard lives and property of residents.

“We are known as a tourism state, so public safety must be our priority. We will reflect this in our budget for 2022. This is to ensure we provide for the acquisition of this kind of truck to support all other 17 local government areas, because this one will be in Calabar where the largest population density is,” he said.

He also commended the federal government for providing the truck to the state.