Lagos grassroots leaders charged on disaster management

Kazeem Ugbodaga

Grassroots leaders in Lagos State have been charged on the need to adopt proactive measures to prevent disasters in the state.

This charge was made by a member of the House of Representatives, representing Epe Federal Constituency of Lagos, Wale Raji, when he visited victims of the fire incident in Agbowa-Ikosi in which houses were burnt last Wednesday.

Raji said there was need for grassroots leaders, especially the Community Development Associations, CDAs, to educate members of their community on disaster management and the need to be proactive at all time to prevent fire disaster.

“There is need for the CDAs to educate people in their communities through relevant government agencies on the safety procedures whenever there is any fire outbreak in their communities.

“In case of any fire outbreak, people who are not affected should not panic, but quickly call the state’s fire service or government’s emergency numbers 112 or 767 for prompt response as they are well equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to combat fire outbreaks.

The lawmaker urged Lagosians to ensure that all electrical appliances in their domains were switched off whenever they were leaving their homes in order to avert fire disaster.

He lauded the state Fire Service personnel for their prompt response which prevented the fire from spreading to other adjoining houses.

An eye witness, Chief Femi Dehinsilu, who conducted the lawmaker round the burnt building said the fire was noticed when power was installed which led to a surge.

He appealed to the state government to assist victims who lost their properties and other valuables during the inferno.

One of the victims, Adebogun, who lost all his documents and other valuables in the inferno, appealed to government to assist the victims.