Insecurity: NEMA organises evacuation drills for FG workers in Enugu

Posted by African Examiner Ignatius Okpara Friday, September 6th, 2013

…harps on greater synergy among relevant agencies

By Ignatius Okpara, As the nation continue to face serious insecurity challenges in parts of the country, the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has staged a one-day emergency evacuation drill/simulation for federal civil servants in Enugu State, just as it called for more robust synergy among relevant agencies in disaster management.

The programme, which was held at the Federal Secretariat Enugu, under the coordination of the South-East office of the Agency, commenced with a controlled bomb explosion exercise
by the police anti-bomb squad.

However, the deliberate explosion, led to the prompt arrival of various emergency and disaster management organisations, such as NEMA rescue team, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Emergency Management unit, NSCDC anti-terrorism unit, Enugu State Emergency Response Team, Enugu State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, the Red Cross Society, Fire Service, among others.

In his speech during the evaluation and interactive session, south east zonal coordinator of NEMA, Dr. Bandele Onimode, had explained that the agency decided to embark on the exercise so as to educate the workers on what they should do whenever there is bomb threats or scar in their environments.

He explained that it was aimed at assessing not only the promptness of the rescue team but also those who may have been within the area of any form of disaster.

Hear him :“The need for proactive measure in preventing, responding and mitigating the impact of such emergencies cannot be overemphasized on the part of employers, employees and critical stakeholders in disaster management thus the need for education, collaboration and synergy
amongst each other.

“It is in view of the above that NEMA in its coordinating and collaborative effort is presenting the tips which if adhered to will go a long way in mitigating the impact of these emergencies.

“The idea is to prepare our minds should this kind of thing happen; do Boko Haram members issue alerts when they want to strike? Does fire or flood issue people with notices? He queried, stressing that “we are living in an environment where we all have to be at alert.

“We noticed here that while the fire was still on some workers were busy trying to take photographs; these actions could be dangerous during real terror attack”.

On some of the things workers should know before the occurrence of an emergency, the NEMA south east boss, admonished them to be familiar with their worksite’s emergency evacuation plan, the pathway to at least two alternative exists from every room/area at the workplace, know where the fire evacuation alarms are located and how to use them.

Addressing the participants, the officer in charge of the anti-bomb squad in the Enugu State Police Command, ASP Joseph Bassey, explained that the primary duty of the police in the drill was to produce the disaster effect.

“What we did here today was a controlled explosion; actually it was an IED (Improvised Explosive Device); we used a radio as IED, so we have to be careful how we use telephone, radio and anything that has to do with electricity” the security operative advised