The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on Wednesday, said it was working seriously to activate Emergency Communication Centres in states where the facilities were currently non-existent.
It also stated that state governments had been calling on the commission to establish the centres in their states, as this was in recognition of the significance of the facilities.
NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Umar Danbatta, stated this while receiving two international recognitions which the commission got from the International Public Relations Association and the African Public Relations Association.
Danbatta noted that with 19 ECC’s already established in 18 states of the federation and Abuja, the centres played vital roles during emergencies as they facilitated responses from emergency response agencies whenever 112 was dialled from any network.
He outlined the response agencies to include the Nigerian Police Force, the Federal Road Safety Commission, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, fire and ambulance services and the National Emergency Management Agency.
The NCC boss was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja by the commission’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Adinde, as saying, “Because of the recognition of the important role the ECC is playing in states where we have activated them, many states are asking us to come and activate their ECCs.
And serious work is ongoing in this regard, as we know that this important life-saving facility supports security architecture across the country.”
Danbatta said the ECCs were activated as a one-stop shop for receiving distress calls from the public and dispatching same to appropriate emergency response agencies for timely response and resolution of the distress.
“The ECC has transformed lives and helped many in handling emergencies today. It is no doubt having positive impacts on lives, improving security and providing jobs for Nigerian youths,” he stated.
On the international awards to NCC, he said the recognitions were in acknowledgment of the role of the ECCs in providing succor to Nigerians who were in emergencies.
