The regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd) has said it’s considering creating an arm-bearing unit for the Nigeria Fire Service.
This was revealed in a statement on Saturday by the Director of Press, Ministry of Interior, Lere-Adams Blessing, on behalf of the Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, during the opening of the National Council on Fire, held in Jos, Plateau State.
Aregbesola hinted that the unit that would be called ‘Fire Police’ will be saddled with the responsibility of protecting firefighters from mob attacks while carrying out their duties.
The minister was further quoted as saying that the Fire Police’ duty would include among others to cordon areas during operations, The PUNCH reported.
The statement titled ‘FG mulls establishment of fire police’ read, “As part of efforts to address the challenge often faced by firefighters during operations, through mob action and vandalisation of firefighting assets in the country, the Federal Government has disclosed that it would create an arm bearing unit to be referred to as ‘Fire Police,’ whose duty would be to provide armed outer cordon during operations.
“The ministry would initiate the process of repealing the 1963 obsolete Fire Service Act and enactment of a new contemporary, vibrant, and enforceable law, through the instrument of an Executive Bill to be forwarded to the National Assembly for deliberation and eventual passage into law.
“When critical national assets are adequately protected against consequences of huge losses due to fire incidents, these assets are saved; the economy is further protected because the very lean resources that would have otherwise been used to rehabilitate or reconstruct such affected infrastructure would be channeled to other areas of our National Development.
“Our national Archives and very sensitive information would be preserved.
“The ministry, under the minister’s watch, would continue to find innovative ways and means to empower the Service to provide timely and quality service of world-class standard, to the generality of the citizens and foreigners alike.”
