The federal government has constituted a committee to develop an operational roadmap for the nationwide implementation of the 112 national emergency number.
The committee comprises representatives from the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and other relevant federal government agencies.
The committee was established on Tuesday in Abuja during a stakeholders’ meeting attended by Vice-President Kashim Shettima; Tunji Disu, inspector-general of police; Shehu Mohammed, corps marshal of the FRSC; and Lanre Issa-Onilu, director-general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
In a statement issued by Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant to the vice-president, Shettima urged the committee to base its decisions on global best practices, noting that the roadmap would be ratified by the national economic council (NEC).
“Let’s make progress so that whatever time we have spent here is worth spending. And most importantly, the engine is finance. It is the resources that drive the process. And I want to assure you that we will get the resources,” Shettima said.
On his part, Disu said the NPF fully supports the adoption of the initiative, adding that it is a significant step towards ensuring citizens have a reliable means of accessing emergency assistance.
Disu said when citizens are facing an armed attack, accident, fire outbreak, medical emergency, kidnapping, or any other life-threatening situation, one number should be able to provide emergency assistance.
In July, NEC approved the adoption of 112 as the national emergency number across all levels of government and relevant agencies.
The council also approved the establishment of a multi-agency implementation committee and programme coordination to be led by the office of the vice-president and the NCC.