The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abuja Operations Office, has called on Nigerians to assist and share correct information of disasters with emergency responders.
Mr Justin Uwazuruonye, Head, NEMA Abuja Operations Office, gave the advice on Thursday at an After Action Review Meeting in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised to review the various actions of emergency responders during the recent incident of a building collapse at Kubwa in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
NAN reports that the meeting had in attendance representatives from the NSCDC, Fire Service, FRSC, Red Cross, FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Police.
Uwazuruonye said the meeting was aimed at outlining the gaps and proffering solutions on areas that need improvement when handling future cases of emergencies.
“We want Nigerians to help assist the victims of any disaster before emergency responders arrive the scene.
“This is because we discovered that most Nigerians are not concerned about saving the lives of the victims, they are concerned about bringing out their phones and uploading disaster situations on social media.
“Nigerians should change their attitude towards that and also they should understand that most of the emergency responders are not living within the locality.
“So they rely on the information passed across to them, and if they don’t get these information at the right time and early enough, there is no way they will respond promptly,” he said.
He said that there was need for Nigerians to get to the police, fire service, FEMA and so on as soon as there was an emergency as this would get operatives to know what to do per time.
He said it was also important for Nigerians to show concern by assisting in giving the right information at the right time.
On building collapse in the FCT, he called on residents to report all suspected cases of building plan alterations to the Development Control Department.
“If you notice that a particular building is being altered and it is not safe for people to live in, please report to Development Control, so that they can take action from there.
“Let us share information and most importantly, let those information be correct information and not to victimise anyone,” he said.
