There was panic at the Oyo State Government Secretariat yesterday as the National Emergency Management Agency {NEMA} embarked on a mock emergency evacuation to sensitise civil servants on steps to take in the wake of emergency disasters.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the NEMA team, led by the South West Coordinator, Iyiola Akande made a mock fire at the Ministry of Lands and Survey and ordered civil servants to embark on emergency exit from their offices.
During the exercise, two people , one of the visitors at? the Ministry who identified herself as Alhaja Wulemotu Ibrahim was seen panting and blaming her presence at the Ministry, even as she attempted to jump down from the three storey building when the alarm was raised.
The Coordinator who later addressed the panic stricken civil servants however allayed the fears of the civil servants and apologised for the confusion and added that the action of the agency was for a purpose.
His words : “We are sorry for the panic. It was not meant to create any injury but to create awareness on how to exit from a disaster prone infected area. We don’t want casualty in case of emergency. It was intended to educate our people that when emergency happens, we don’t want people to be wounded “.
Akande stressed the need for a fire alarm at all the ministries and other high rise building while all encumbrances that could hinder the movement of vehicles on emergency support services should be eliminated.
The NEMA chief stated that the sensitization programme became imperative following the United Nations {UN} building bombing in Abuja a couple of months ago which led to the losses of several lives. He added that some of the lives could have been saved if the people as of then had been aware of steps to take in emergency situation.
Also speaking , the State Commissioner for Lands , Survey and Physical Planning , Mr. Isaac Omodewu described the sensitization as a normal thing to save life.
He hinted that he approved the supply of fire extinguishers to his Ministry on assumption of office when he realized that the Ministry had none to defend itself in case of fire outbreak.