Nigeria’s fire-fighters earn $0.064 incentive

Jethro Ibileke/Benin

Poor remuneration, obsolete fire fighting equipment inhibited operations of Nigeria’s Edo State Fire Service last year.

Investigations revealed that Edo State Fire Service has only one functional vehicle located in Benin City, the State capital, to attend to the numerous fire distress calls, and the Service still pays as low as N10 per month($0.064) as hazard allowance to its workers.

It was also discovered that many of the 79 fire outbreak recorded by the Fire Service during the year could have been put under control, had the State government provided modern fire-fighting equipment for the Fire Department.

Public Relations Officer of the Fire Service, Franklyn Agbonlahor who made this startling revelation to journalists in Benin, said of the 79 fire outbreak calls received last years, more than 30 were reported during the harmattan season.

Agbonlahor who attributed the inability of the State Fire Service to tackle many of the fire outbreaks to dearth of equipment, added gross inadequate equipment and bad conditions of the Fire Service were also responsible for poor service delivery.

“We lack adequate equipment as regards fire fighting. We have only one fire service station and one functional vehicle centrally located at the Ring Road in Benin City. The only fire service vehicle cannot serve any purpose.

“We are working but that is not how it is supposed to be. We have contained spread of many fires. To contain harmattan fire, we have to use more than one fire service vehicle. This is what the people are naive about and at the end of the day, the people mobbed our men. They destroyed the vehicles and fight our men. It is not the making of our men not to put out fire as quickly as possible,” Agbonlahor said.

He described the N10 monthly hazard allowance as being grossly inadequate and not enough to motivate men of the Service.

The Edo Fire Service PRO said an official complaint has been made to Governor Adams Oshiomhole who has promised to provide adequate equipment for the Service in the current fiscal year.