NEMA intensifi es campaign against road accidents

[Mirror]

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that auto crashes top the chart of causes of death in the country.

NEMA North-west zonal coordinator, Alhaji Musa Ilallah, stated this yesterday at the 2013 workshop with stakeholders on mass casualty handling in Kaduna. Ilallah said the statistics released by FRSC on road related crashes in the country is worrisome, adding that the increase in deaths through road accidents further compounds response to disasters.

"Deaths through road crashes top the chart of the causes of human lives loss in the country. NEMA as an agency of the Federal Government found it expedient to organise this forum with a view to sensitising members of the public in order to engineer a proactive approach to disasters risk reduction strategy," Ilallah said.

Ilallah said the workshop is in continuation of NEMA's efforts in mitigating the impact of large scale emergencies, especially during the Also NEMA has organised training for the FRSC staff on vehicle extrication and handling of casualties during road crashes. The agency, through its research and rescue officer, Kingsley Okolo, demonstrated emergency rescue equipments and their uses before the FRSC personnel.

Speaking during the one-day exercise held at the 9th Mile, Enugu office of the FRSC, the South-East coordinator of NEMA, Dr. Bandele Abdulahi Onomode, stressed that the collaboration was to save lives. Onimode said "it is worrisome that Nigeria records between 100 to 120 road crashes on weekly basis with deaths put at 800 and above on daily basis.

"This one day simulation/ training exercise on vehicle extrication and mass casualty handling of road crashes victims is an effort to reduce the number of mortality and morbidity by joining hands on rescue management".

Onimode, who was represented by the assistant zonal coordinator of NEMA, Dr. Innocent Ezeaku, noted that other countries of the world come to Nigeria to learn the country's roads safety and emergency rescues.

"You know we are approaching the peak of Ember months and we will go into what we call 'Operation Eagle Eye', so we are just preparing ourselves for that exercise. "It is all about how to extricate victims of road crashes in case it happens.

That is, to bring people out with minimum injury, to ensure that people who are trapped are removed and a good number of lives are saved". He called for more volunteers as special road marshals to complement efforts of FRSC and the police in combating growing traffic build ups in cities.

The South-East NEMA boss noted that the seminar was as a result of the earlier collaboration between the FRSC and the NEMA, which resulted to saving some lives in a fatal accident that took place at Ugwu Onyeama in Enugu.

In his brief remarks, Enugu State sector commander of FRSC, Fumubi Olawuyi, who spoke through the 9th mile unit commander of the corps, Mr. Blaise Ezeani applauded NEMA for the training.

He, however, identified bad roads and human errors as the two major factors responsible for incessant road crashes in Nigeria. He advocated adequate investment in road construction and rehabilitation by governments at all levels in the country. The Coordinator of its Abuja Operations Office, Mr Ishaya Chonoko, announced the action in Abuja at an experience- sharing exercise on mass casualty handling during the "ember'' months.

Chonoko said the agency had embarked on a nationwide training on improved casualty handling and advocacy campaign against road accidents. He said the training of emergency response stakeholders on casualty handling was in line with the UN call to mitigate the impact of road accidents in the country.

Chonoko said the exercise was being carried out in all NEMA zonal and states operations offices nationwide. "It is common knowledge that during this period we experience increase in movement of people from one part of the country to the other by road, to attend one form of festivity or another.

"Persistent pressure on the road over the years especially by articulated vehicles and inadequate rail transportation system has resulted in high records of traffic accidents,'' he said. He advised state emergency agencies to emulate NEMA in carrying out disaster curtailing activities at the grassroots levels.

The Director General of the FCT Emergency Management Agency, Mr Idriss Abbas, commended efforts being made by NEMA to promote synergy among emergency response stakeholders in the federal capital. He stressed the need to adequately equip and train primary response agencies such as the Federal Fire Service and the Federal Road Safety Corps on safety measures.

Abbas also stressed the need for emergency agencies to address the current accident statistics as recorded by the FRSC in the country. He urged participants at the workshop to make adequate use of the opportunity provided by NEMA to properly retrieve and evacuate casualties during emergencies.