The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Department, FEMD, said no fewer than one hundred and five (105) persons were rescued from the various incidences of building collapse in the territory in 2024.
Acting Director General of FEMD, Abdulrahman Mohammed disclosed this at a media parley Monday in Abuja.
According to him, the incidences occurred at the Prince and Princess Estate, Guzape District, Garki 2, Kubwa, and Sabon Lugbe along the Airport Road.
He said major incidents centered on building collapse, fire outbreaks, flooding, earth tremor and distribution of relief materials to victims.
Giving an overview of activities of the department in the outgoing year, Mohammed said FEMD saved an estimated 3,500 lives from various emergencies through 165 calls on its 112 emergency toll-free number.
“A breakdown of the Search and Rescue activities in 2024 shows that 75 lives were rescued from various flood disasters. However, one life was lost to floods at Angwan Hakimi, Orozo, in Abuja Municipal Area Council. To mitigate the impact of the rains, on June 25th, we barricaded the slip road at the Galadimawa interchange; the road was reopened on November 17th 2024.
“105 persons were rescued from building collapse and there were four fatalities. We had incidences at the Prince and Princess estate, Guzape District , Garki 2, Kubwa, and Sabon Lugbe along the Airport Road.
“Fire outbreaks; 1,230 persons were rescued from various incidents. No life was lost. Some of the incidents occurred at Old Karu market, a fitness center at Gwarinpa, and residential fires.
“There was an attempted suicide on a mast atop Katampe Hill. Through the skillful intervention of FEMD officials and the police, the incident was prevented.
“FEMD responded to the wildly reported earth tremor in Mpape, Katampe, and some parts of Maitama Extension where over 2,000 residents were traumatized. Our report on the incident was submitted to the Honorable Minster of the FCT.
“On road crashes, 89 persons were rescued, while there were three fatalities. We have also flagged off our ember month campaign in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps. Tagged, Operation Eagle Eye, the campaign took us to Motor Parks in the FCT to sensitize commercial drivers on driving to stay safe and alive”, he said.
Mohammed said going forward, the department intends to fully explore the deployment of technology in the management of disasters.
“These include integration of technologies using lower orbit satellite to track real images and analytical data to enhance risk assessment and monitoring capabilities in the FCT. This will not only enhance efficiency, effectiveness and decision making, but greatly reduce our response time.
“FEMD in the coming year will establish effective channels for sharing information and best practices, in addition to setting up secure data storage solutions. We intend to Increase focus on risk assessment for the city center to increase focus on risk assessment to mitigate potential disasters”, he added.
Dominica Nwabufo
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