By Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsuru Olowoopejo
Lagos State Government has said that no fewer than 84 persons were burnt to death and property worth N12.8 billion destroyed in the state in the last one year.
California-fire
Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Mr. Oluseye Oladejo, Monday, gave the statistics while briefing newsmen on the achievements recorded by the ministry between May, 2017 and April 2018.
According to him, a total of 333 victims were rescued while the agency recorded 202 rescue calls and 83 false calls.
He said: “84 were also recovered dead. Despite the sizeable number of incidents recorded the state government was able to respond promptly to emergencies thereby saving lots of lives and properties.
“Within the period under review, the state government rehabilitated and upgraded 225 old fire hydrants that were initially below ground level in Lagos Metropolis and Installed 50 new additional ones to link the Mini/Micro Water Works in the state. The hydrants have been providing easy access to copious water supply for firemen during firefighting and rescue operations.”
To prevent mishaps on streets and major highways in the state, the Commissioner disclosed that plans were underway to commence removal of all abandoned vehicles on roads to complement emergency recovery efforts.
Traffic congestion
He said the move was aimed at further addressing traffic decongestion and averting security challenges associated with abandoned vehicles.
In line with this development, Oladejo said the governor had approved the creation of Vehicle Recovery Unit to solely see to the removal of abandoned and accident vehicles on the roads which would be under the Ministry of Special Duties, adding that plans were being firmed up for the take-off of the unit soon.
“This speaks largely to efforts in terms of prevention to mop up abandoned vehicles in all nooks and crannies in the State and also to make sure that broken down vehicles are promptly removed to prevent mishaps on the highways. For the smooth take off of the Unit, the Governor also directed that equipment and towing trucks of various capacities be procured to be able to remove vehicles of whatever make and size,” he stated.