Angry mob attacks fire truck, injures firefighters

The Federal Fire Service Command in Cross River State has confirmed an attack on its fire truck and personnel during an operation in Calabar.

The Commanding Officer, Olumayowa Olomola, confirmed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Calabar.

Ms Olomola said that five personnel of the service were injured during the attack by some disgruntled members of the public.

“Officials of the federal fire service were attacked, and a fire appliance was vandalised around the Goldie axis of Calabar metropolis while responding to a fire incident.

“We hear that they misunderstood us to be from the state fire service, which they accused of delayed response.

“We were called by the Cross River Fire Service to respond. This is after they complained of lacking the capacity to respond,” she said.

The fire service official further stated that the personnel were unable to disembark and extinguish the fire due to the attack.

Ms Olomola stated the Cross River State Government had yet to fulfil its promise of providing medical support for the injured personnel.

She stated that the matter had been properly reported to the law enforcement agencies to apprehend those responsible for the acts.

She urged residents to avoid indiscriminate bush burning and other acts capable of causing fire outbreaks during the dry season.

Meanwhile, the Kano State Fire Service said it has sensitised residents of Gezawa Local Government Area in Kano on preventive fire outbreak measures during the harmattan season.

The Divisional Commander, Rabiu Mansur, disclosed this in a statement issued by the service’s Public Relations Officer, Saminu Abdullahi, on Tuesday in Kano.

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The statement said the sensitisation was conducted as part of the service’s ongoing efforts to safeguard lives and property across the state.

“Residents should take extreme caution in handling fire and flammable materials, especially during harmattan period as dry weather conditions increase the risk of fire incident.”

It urged the residents to promptly report any fire outbreak or emergency to the Kano State Fire Service through its emergency lines.

(NAN)