Lagos receives 16.39 million hoax emergency calls in 15 months – LSCCC

The Lagos State Government has raised alarm over the growing rate of hoax and nuisance calls flooding the state’s emergency communication system, disclosing that 16.39 million fake calls were received by the Lagos State Command and Control Centre, LSCCC, between January 2025 and April 2026.

General Manager of the LSCCC, Mr. Ifalade Oyekan Kennedy-Giwa, disclosed this on Monday while fielding questions from journalists during the ongoing Ministerial Press Briefing marking the seventh year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration in Alausa, Ikeja.

Kennedy-Giwa warned residents against making prank or nuisance calls to emergency lines, saying the trend was putting enormous pressure on emergency communication infrastructure and slowing response to genuine distress situations.

According to him, the Command and Control Centre received a total of 24.15 million calls within the 15-month period, out of which 16.39 million, representing 67.9 per cent, were classified as nuisance calls.

He lamented that the development was affecting the efficiency of emergency response operations across the state, particularly during critical security, fire and medical emergencies.

“Nuisance calls prevent genuine callers from getting the desired attention and reduce response time to real emergencies,” Kennedy-Giwa said.

The LSCCC boss disclosed that fire outbreaks remained the dominant emergency incident handled by the centre in 2025.

According to him, the Command and Control Centre recorded 1,972 emergency incidents between January and December 2025, excluding false calls, with fire outbreaks accounting for 1,685 of the cases.

He described fire emergencies as the most prevalent crisis confronting Lagos during the review period, attributing the pressure on emergency services to rapid urbanisation and population growth across the state.

Kennedy-Giwa explained that March recorded the highest number of emergency incidents with 210 cases, followed by April with 197 incidents.

He noted that August witnessed the lowest emergency activity with 113 incidents due to heavy rainfall which reduced fire outbreaks and movement within the metropolis.

The General Manager added that emergency incidents surged again in December with 189 calls following increased commercial activities, festive season movement and higher energy consumption.

Giving a breakdown of incidents across local government areas, Kennedy-Giwa said Alimosho recorded the highest number of emergencies with 180 incidents, followed by Eti-Osa with 156 and Ikeja with 139 incidents.

Kosofe ranked fourth with 89 incidents, while Mushin recorded 49 cases during the period under review.

The LSCCC boss highlighted the role of the Command and Control Centre in coordinating rapid emergency response among agencies, noting that the system had improved communication, dispatch operations and real-time incident management statewide.

To tackle the growing challenge of fake emergency calls, Kennedy-Giwa disclosed that the state government planned to deploy Artificial Intelligence-powered call routing and intelligent filtering systems.

According to him, the proposed AI pre-screening technology is expected to reduce agent handling time by 35 per cent and significantly improve emergency response efficiency across Lagos.

He reiterated the government’s appeal to residents to use emergency lines responsibly in order to ensure prompt response to genuine distress calls and save lives during emergencies.