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In spite of the incessant bomb blasts being orchestrated by the Boko Haram sect in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the FCT administration has stated that it has not been overwhelmed by emergencies arising from the disaster.
The Director General, FCT Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Ababs Idriss, gave this hint yesterday in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists in his office on the readiness of the agency to emergencies in FCT.
Idriss, who spoke through the Director of Administration and Finance, Mrs. Alice Odey-Achu, who said that the agency maintains its five minutes response time to emergency admitting that there are a lot of factors that impede response time.
He disclosed further that the agency's response time to the last Wednesday's bomb blast at EMAB Plaza was seven minutes, stressing that two fire stations were on ground immediately after the explosion occurred.
Idriss revealed that in order for the agency to perform its duty effectively, it had engaged voluntary workers known as 'Voluntary Vanguard' to assist in rescue operation in times of emergency, adding that the vanguards exist in all the six area councils of FCT.
His words: "We are not overwhelmed because our men were there. Within seven minutes of getting the call, Asokoro Fire Service was already there and was later joined by Gwarinpa and then these two fire stations were able to put the fire under control.
"In fact, by the time the management team of FEMA heard that there was a blast, we were having our management meeting in Zone 6. Look at how close Zone 6 is to EMAB Plaza but the time we moved from there to the Plaza, all the fire was down. We saw our men already carrying the dead and the wounded. Our ambulances were on ground."
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