There was panic and confusion in the Oworonshoki area of Lagos during a simulation of a plane crash in the area yesterday.
The exercise was meant to assess the level of preparedness on the part of emergency agencies in handling disasters.
But as residents saw a plane plunged into the Lagoon, there was pandemonium as they thought the crash was real. Many of them ran towards the plane in a bid to save “trapped victims.”
The government, it was learnt, did not inform the community before the exercise.
It will be recalled that a Bristow helicopter with 12 persons on board had crashed in the area on August 12, 2015, killing six people, including the pilot.
The residents said the simulation looked real and was a sad reminder of the August 2015 crash.
A resident, Bola Oluwadare, said it took him some minutes to know that the crash was an exercise, adding that residents were caught unawares.
He said, “I was dressing up around 11.30am when I heard people shouting that plane had crashed again. I ran out to see what was happening. It was after the emergency agencies arrived that we knew it was an exercise.”
A shop owner in the area, Tajudeen Olagunju, said the scare created by the simulation caused many people to abandon their shops.
“I thought it was a repeat of the August 15 incident and so did most of us. I think the agencies did not inform us so that it would look real,” he said.
It was also gathered that the exercise was coordinated by the National Emergency Management Agency in collaboration with the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, among others.
The spokesperson for NEMA, South West, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the agencies responded 15 minutes after “a distress call”. He said the exercise enabled the emergency agencies to know their strength in managing disasters.
He said, “The exercise was to determine our level of preparedness in disaster management. The carcass of a plane was dropped into the Lagoon at about 11.30am. Five helicopters of the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Airforce and Bristow were deployed within 15 minutes after the alert. Two ships from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and the Nigerian Navy, two doctors and 30 nurses were also on the ground. Thirty local divers were first to respond.
“We assumed people on board were foreigners and the Nigerian Immigration Service was there to check their nationalities to know whether some of them were of questionable characters. Traffic was the challenge we faced to arrive at the scene, but a helicopter assisted us to drop some divers via parachutes.”
The General Manager, LASEMA, Mr. Michael Akindele, said the exercise would also assist in areas such as coordination, response time, capacity building and the use of equipment and personnel during emergencies.
“The larger community was not informed so that residents will also know that it is their responsibility to assist in emergency management,” he added.
Other agencies involved in the exercise are the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Lagos State Ambulance Service and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Nice one, Akinwumi is working Lagos is moving. Thanks ur excellency. May God Almighty support ur good works.
ReplyDeleteHope u will be ready when the real one happens
ReplyDeleteTypical of Nigerian institutions. They should have simply warned people this was a test.
ReplyDeleteDo not say what you don't know. If people are informed, then the essence of the exercise is lost!
DeleteEven in companies we have emergency drills and workers are not informed.
This is called a drill. It is done the world over . It is practiced in the oil industry in Nigeria.
DeleteYou don't warn people in a drill situation. As a result of constant drills, when the real hung happens, people do not panic. They just follow instructions given by emergency people. This reduces casualties that often occurs in accidents. If Lagos was used to drills, Ejigbo disaster of 2002 that occurred due to Ikeja Cantonment bomb explosions would have not led to thousands of deaths. People died just due to panic. They did not need to leave their homes.
Read the article again, the residents were not warned so they could test their response level in the event of a real disaster
DeleteHope u will be ready when the real one happens
ReplyDeleteI feel Bristow should take the nod COS I'm very they initiated this to get all agencies truly work. Nice one, I dont pray for any air disaster cos the chances of surviving are ........
ReplyDeleteSince disasters, especially Air crashes,do not give notices or warnings, I agree that there should be no prior notice to anyone before such exercises hold.
ReplyDeleteEven government agencies should not be informed. This is how to test preparedness when real incidents occur.
It is a good excercise.God forbids bad occurence,it shows people are well prepared for any eventuality.Kudos to the organisers.Nigeria is fast learning.
ReplyDeleteOnly police did not respond,what are they busy doing?they should be the first to respond to distress call but they won't.God save us from them.
ReplyDelete