Nigerians will soon heave a big sigh of relief on security challenges plaguing the country as Bill seeking to establish efficient and effective emergency response system have scaled second reading at the Senate on Wednesday.
The Bill is titled: “A Bill for an Act to establish a nationwide toll-free emergency number for reporting of emergencies throughout the federation and for related matters, 2021,” is sponsored by Senator Ibikunle Amosun, former Governor of Ogun State.
Among other things, the Bill seeks to establish a short code that Nigerians could dial and seamlessly access emergency agencies and, by extension, emergency responses from many and varied agencies, that could save lives and property.
The lawmaker is aware telecommunications sector umpire, the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), has an initiative called Emergency Communications Centres (ECCs) being built across the 36 states and the FCT, but would really want it to become a truly national project, with buy-in of all stakeholders.
Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, EVC/CEO of NCC, had noted that activation of the ECCs had become necessary at a time when the country was faced with insecurity issues such as insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery and many more life-threatening incidents, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
With 19 ECC’s already established in 18 states of the Federation and the FCT, Danbatta said the centers played a vital role during emergencies as they facilitated response from emergency response agencies such as the Nigerian Police Force, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Fire and Ambulance Services, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and others by dialing 112 from any network.
Leading the debate at the upper chamber, Amosu explained that the Bill sought to provide for a nationwide toll-free emergency number that would aid the implementation of a national system of reporting emergencies and for other related matters.
“Emergency telephone number is typically a three-digit number that can be easily remembered and dialed quickly.
“Emergency numbers are needed in life-threatening situations. They can also be used to report emergencies of various types such as road accidents, fire, burglary, medical emergencies and so on,” he said.
Contributing, Sen. Bala Na’Allah (APC-Kebbi) said the free national emergency line bill when passed would be one of the greatest innovations with a view to stemming the tide of insecurity in the country.
Also, Sen.Tolu Odebiyi (APC-Ogun) said the Bill when passed would help in unifying all the phone numbers in different states.
The Bill was thereafter referred to the Senate Committee on Communication by President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan to report back in four weeks