From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Amidst the rising wave of fire outbreaks in public and private establishments, the Federal Government has resolved to make fire liability insurance compulsory for all public buildings.
Speaking during a courtesy call on the National Insurance Commission, (NAICOM), Controller-General of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Dr. Ibrahim Liman, urged all public buildings to subscribe to the liability insurance policy for their assets.
The CG explained that his agency has begun a rigorous public enlightenment and education on fire safety and has established a technical group to assess the Oil Tank Farm Safety Management in Nigeria with a view to mitigating disasters attributable to oil tank farm explosions especially in the South-West and South-South regions.
“Under the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Fire Service has moved from a service having just two dilapidated fire trucks to presently having 106 modern fire trucks; 22 water tankers, 8 rapid intervention vehicles and a 54-meter hydraulic platform with the capacity of fighting fire and carrying out rescue at the 18th floor of a storey building; from its presence in just Abuja and Lagos to having presence in the 36 states of the federation with personnel and fire fighting equipment; from a service of just 600 personnel to 6,512 personnel.
“The service has so far responded to 3, 555 fire calls, rescued 353 persons and saved property worth N1.351 trillion across the country in 2020 alone,” he said.
The Controller General also informed the CEO of NAICOM on the statutory fund that is supposed to be remitted to the Fire Service which has not been forthcoming. According to the CG, the fund that is supposed to be remitted to the service from NAICOM has not been coming.
“My appeal to you is that NAICOM can assist the Fire Service, especially the State Fire Services who are poorly funded in the areas of fire trucks rehabilitation, fire stations rehabilitation, training and retraining of staff and even providing uniforms where the need be.” he stated.
While acknowledging that the law enables NAICOM to fund the activities of the Fire Service, NAICOM boss, Mr Olorundare Sunday Thomas, stated that the insurance regulator was constrained by paucity of funds.