TheCable

Braimoh Momoh, assistant controller-general of the federal fire service in the federal capital territory (FCT), says the agency has been responding to outbreaks promptly but alerts are sometimes received late.

Momoh spoke on Tuesday when he featured as a guest on ‘Good Morning Nigeria,’ a programme on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

His comments come amid reports that the fire service arrived hours after the recent fire outbreak at the Next Cash and Carry supermarket in Abuja.

“Our response to various fire disasters has been prompt. Nigerians have to understand this — the time of the report of the incident — because sometimes, we get the information late and when you get the information late, the public will start blaming you for coming late,” he said.

“Talking about the personnel, we have the capacity and the equipment. President Muhammadu Buhari has really done Nigeria good to have bought a lot of modern fire fighting trucks for the fire service which makes us cover every nook and cranny of the country today.

“But I don’t know why people cannot furnish us with early information to respond as when necessary. When we get the information late, then you get your response late, but when we get the information early, then you get your response early.”

Speaking on the fire outbreak at the supermarket in Abuja, he said necessary equipment was deployed to the scene immediately information reached the agency.

“We are talking about nothing less than 26 firefighter trucks and 10 water tankers that were on ground at the time we got the report. Everything was at the venue. We activated all relevant agencies — the national security adviser activated all relevant agencies. All over, there was communication and synergy that everybody had to be there and which we actually did, but the issue was reported late,” he said.