Aregbesola: FG to Procure Aircraft for Fire-fighting in Six Geopolitical Zones

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The federal government is planning to procure aircraft in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country to fight wildfires, bushfires, and other large-scale fires, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola disclosed yesterday.

Aregbesola said this at the inauguration of the Metropolitan Fire Station, Kubwa in Abuja.

The minister said: “The prime challenge of the Federal Fire Service (FFS) is on combating wildfires, bushfires and other largescale fires requiring aerial attacks.

“We have initiated an arrangement with the Nigeria Airforce to use their planes to water-bomb fires of that nature from the air. It is my sincere hope that the Service will see this through.

“Our projection is to have our own aircraft in the six geo-political zones of the country.”

Aregbesola explained that the Metro Fire Station was positioned strategically in the suburban Kubwa District for rapid fire and rescue interventions to the community in a much shorter life-saving time.

He said: “One can almost be sure of a rise in the awareness level of people in the community of fire protection and prevention through fire safety enlightenment campaigns that would be on the steady in and around the axis.

“This beautiful edifice housing the Metropolitan Fire Station is the first of its kind in the history of Nigeria. We have all gathered here today to commission one of the 13 Metropolitan Stations spread across the country and at various stages of completion,” he said.

Aregbesola had earlier in the day while inaugurating the Fire House at the National Fire Academy, Sheda, Abuja, described it as the heart and soul of the fire academy.

The Minister noted that the Fire House was one of the legacy projects of the current administration, insisting that the federal government’s investment in FFS under the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was more than what has been invested in the agency since its creation in 1901.

He said: “It will be right to say that attention and resources devoted by the current administration to the Federal Fire Service since 2015, is more than whatever has been put into it since its establishment in 1901.

“As a matter of fact, some of the milestones achieved in the Federal Fire Service are evidence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s unbending determination to fight insecurity by protecting lives and property from fire and other hazards.”