The Federal Capital Territory Fire Service has outlawed vendors from sleeping in the nation’s capital’s marketplaces as part of efforts to put out fires.
The service’s acting controller, Engr. Adebayo Amiola, made this announcement in Abuja over the weekend. He cautioned that anyone found sleeping in any of the markets would face the appropriate consequences and added that the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, had given the service permission to shut down any markets that were not operating properly.
According to Amiola, in order to prevent frequent fire outbreaks, all electrical wiring and repairs in the markets must be completed by professionals going forward.
In order to ensure compliance with fire service rules, including the supply of water hydrants and fire outposts, particularly in the marketplaces, he advised developers to always make sure that building plan approvals have input from the service.
The controller said that access routes to all FCT Fire Service facilities have been made available by the Minister, among other things, which has further slashed the FCT Fire Service’s response time to emergency calls.
In addition to urging people to follow all fire safety precautions and to always notify the authorities as soon as there is a fire, he also advised locals not to obstruct such access roads with temporary businesses or other activities.
In the last eight months, the service has reportedly saved property valued at over ₦8 billion, documented 271 fire outbreak calls, and fielded four rescue requests, according to Amiola.
Barrister Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, received his gratitude for the accomplishments, and he said that the service would reassess its plan and take the required safety measures as the dry season approached.
