Fire Service: Inactive Emergency Lines On FCTA’s Website Put Residents At Risk

In October 2019, a section of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) building located in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was gutted by fire.

The news spread like wildfire on social media such that the former spokesperson Wahab Gbadamosi confirmed the incident with the assurance of providing details of losses incurred due to the inferno.

The fire outbreak was later subdued by officials of the fire service.

Similarly, in January 2021, the FCT witnessed another fire incident at the Kugbo Furniture and Timber Market. About 100 shops were engulfed by fire while goods worth N3billion were lost to the inferno.

It was not the first time the furniture market would experience such a disaster.

Around the same month in 2020, a similar incident had occurred where traders lost goods and huge sum of money .

By July 2021, the FCT recorded another fire incident in the Karmo market.

According to one Toluwani Ajayi, who was an eyewitness, a generator explosion had caused the inferno.

It gradually spread, covering a larger part of the stalls. Goods worth millions were lost to the unfortunate incident.

But that was not all. About four months after, on November 5, 2021, another fire incident broke out in Kubwa, a different suburb area of FCT. It happened precisely at the Kubwa ultra-modern market, claiming five lives.

The Police later confirmed the incident.The latest in the series of fire incidents in FCT was Abuja’s Next Cash & Carry inferno. It drew so much attention and public concern that the authorities promised to investigate the cause.

It is uncertain if any official outcome from the supposed probe has been made public.

The series of incidents simply implies that the FCT Administration must be proactive in addressing the recurring fire disasters.

Hence, it developed an online portal (www.myfctagov.ng) where members of the public could easily contact the FCT Fire Service should there be an urgent need.

The platform boldly has on it three phone numbers with large font sizes: 0814643440, 092006118, 092914089. That is, with a glance, the public could easily grab the numbers and put a call to the service.

The initiative, according to the FCT Administration, is the “Federal Capital Territory Residents Engagement Platform designed to connect the residents of FCT with the FCT Administration for interactions, communication, and collaboration between the government and the residents.”

Emergency numbers of FCT Fire Service on the official portal of FCTA residents interactive platform