No fewer than 430 fire incidents swept through different parts of Niger State between January and December 2025, the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Niger Command, has revealed.
The Controller of the command, AC Alikali Mohammed, disclosed this on Saturday in Minna, saying the year kept his officers on their toes as flames flared across communities like an unrelenting dry-season harmattan.
Mohammed said firefighters were swiftly deployed to every distress call, managing to douse the infernos and prevent what could have been catastrophic losses. According to him, beyond quenching the fires, the command saved lives and properties valued at several billions of naira during the period under review.
He credited the success story to the growing teamwork between the Federal Fire Service and the Niger State Fire Service, noting that the partnership helped to nip many outbreaks in the bud before they spiralled out of control.
“We have been collaborating effectively in the course of discharging our statutory functions at the state capital to save lives and property of the citizens.
“At the end of every last quarter of the year, the command organises a National Fire Safety Week, during which the public are sensitised.
“Visits are made to worship centres, schools, marketplaces, as well as government organisations to enlighten them on safety precautions in case of any fire outbreaks and what they are supposed to do.
“However, the major challenge we are having is that many people don’t have our emergency lines and it is good that everybody have it.”
The controller lamented what he described as the public’s lukewarm attitude towards fire safety rules, stressing that negligence was the spark behind several of the incidents recorded.
He therefore urged residents to keep the fire service within reach, encouraging them to promptly share useful information that would help the command respond faster and discharge its mandate more effectively.
