EXCLUSIVE; Hoodlums Attack Firemen as Fire Raze Buildings, Kill One

BY Chiemelie Ezeobi

Some hoodlums weekend, attacked fire fighters who were  struggling to put out an inferno which razed down about three buildings, killed one and left several others with varying degrees of injuries at the Apapa area of Lagos.
The inferno which occurred at Agbe Street, Olodi-Apapa, on sunday at about 7.30pm, was said to have exacerbated when the hoodlums fought off the firefighters. It was gathered that the attack has increased the toll of such assaults to three in three weeks, thereby inciting panic amongst emergency personnel as regards their safety.

Confirming the incident, Information Officer, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), South-west, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye said the such acts have been on the increase lately.


Farinloye lamented about the threats to life of emergency workers in Lagos, noting that such irresponsible attacks are increasingly on the rise daily.

He said, "While firemen were working assiduously to put out the fire at Apapa, they were attacked by hoodlums who tried to prevent them from doing their job.

"The firemen were trying to fight the fire from the base when the street boys attacked them and tried to collect the firehose in the process.

"This is the third assault on the men of the fire service in three weeks. First at the Ketu Plank Market that was razed by fire, a fireman was critically wounded and was admitted.

"Similarly, at the Alade Market, the street boys destroyed the firefighting instrument while trying to take over the fire fighting from the firemen."

He said the refusal of Lagosians to allow emergency workers have free access to disaster scenes for prompt response is getting complicated and the problem of crowd milling around disaster scenes also makes intervention difficult and uncontrollable.

He said, "Also, public and private motorists are compounding the situation by ignoring the emergency vehicle sirens and obstructing the movement of emergency responders across the state.

"It is pertinent to state that emergency workers are human beings who have families and will be mindful of their safety as they are struggling to save others' lives.

"Therefore, threatening their safety will highly jeopardise their eagerness to respond to disaster in future if there is no attitudinal change by the Nigerians."