The House of Representatives has opposed the plan to allow
men of the fire service to carry arms, asking that security agencies should
deploy operatives to accompany firefighters when on duty.
The opposition followed the unanimous adoption of a motion
at the plenary on Tuesday, titled ‘Call to Discourage Arming of Personnel of
the Federal Fire Service.’
Moving the motion, Thomas Ereyitomi, called the attention of
the House to an announcement by the Federal Government to present before the
National Assembly, a bill to repeal the Fire Service Act and grant firefighters
the power to bear arms to protect firemen from mob attacks while carrying out
their duties and responding to emergencies.
Ereyitomi noted that the announcement had caused anxiety to the public due to reckless use of firearms by those who have been licensed to use the same by their position as security agents, resulting in death or grave injuries to citizens.
The lawmaker stated that the Federal Fire Service is a civil
outfit and not a security agency and, therefore, “not logical to allow
personnel of the outfit to bear firearms, as they do not require such arms to
carry out their duties.”
He argued that some mob attacks on firefighters are usually
due to frustration on the part of victims when firefighters arrive late and
ill-prepared to avert emergencies.
Ereyitomi said, “The House believes that instead of creating
an arms squad of the Federal Fire Service, adequate resources be channelled
into improving the service delivery of the Federal Fire Service, including the
provision of Fire hydrants in every local government area and updating the
Global Positioning System service of the Federal Fire Service to locate
emergency scenes swiftly.
“The House is worried that arming the Federal Fire Service
would add to the growing concerns about the reckless use of arms by the Nigeria
Police Force and other security agencies, as doing so would be unnecessary and
insensitive to the current pensive state of the nation.”
Adopting the motion, the House urged the Executive arm of
government to increase the budgetary allocation of the Federal Fire Service to
ensure that adequate infrastructure is put in place for efficient service
delivery by the Service.
The House also urged the Nigeria Police Force and the
Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps to “assign officers to the Federal
Fire Service to accompany firefighters on emergency duties,” while mandating
its Committee on Interior to liaise with the Committee on Appropriations to
ensure adequate allocation to the Service in the 2022 budget and ensure proper
oversight.
The Federal Government had said it would create an arm
bearing unit to be known as ‘Fire Police’ to provide an armed outer cordon
during operations, as part of the efforts to address the challenge often faced
by firefighters during operations, through mob action and vandalism of
firefighting assets in the country.
The Director of Press, Ministry of Interior, Mrs Blessing
Lere-Adams, had in a statement issued on July 4, 2021, quoted the Minister of
Interior and Chairman of Council, Rauf Aregbesola, as disclosing this during
the opening ceremony of the National Council on Fire in Jos.
Aregbesola, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary,
Dr Shuaib Belgore, had said the ministry would initiate the process of
repealing the 1963 obsolete Fire Service Act and enact a new contemporary,
vibrant and enforceable law, through the instrument of an Executive Bill.
The bill, he said, would be forwarded to the National
Assembly for deliberation and eventual passage into law.
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