Don’t arm fire fighters, Reps tell FG

The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to jettison its move to arm personnel of the Federal Fire Service.

The Federal Government had announced its plan to present before the National Assembly a bill to repeal the Fire Service Act and grant firefighters the power to bear arms to protect the firefighters from mob attacks while carrying out their duties and responding to emergencies.

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But the House while adopting a motion on notice moved by Rep Thomas Ereyitomi, urged the Federal Government to halt the move.

Rep Ereyitomi, while moving the motion said the announcement has caused anxiety to the public due to reckless use of firearms by those who have been licensed to use same by their position as security agents resulting in death or grave injuries to citizens.

He argued that the Federal Fire Service is a civil outfit and not a security agency, adding that it was not logical to allow personnel of the outfit to bear firearms, as they do not require such arms to carry out their duties.

According to him, some the mob attacks on firefighters are usually due to frustration on the part of victims when firefighters arrive late and ill-prepared to avert emergencies.

He believes that instead of creating an arms’ squad of the Federal Fire Service, adequate resources should 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 (GPS) service
of the Federal Fire Service to locate emergency scenes swiftly.

The House while adopting the motion, urged the Executive Arm 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 Federal Fire Service.

It also urge 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.

The House mandated its Committee on Interior to liaise with the Committee on Appropriations to ensure adequate allocation to the Federal Fire Service in the 2022 Budget and ensure proper oversight.