The Assistant Fire Officer of the Lagos Ports Complex of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Adebayo Afolabi has urged staff, visitors and contractors in the Lagos port complex to raise alarm whenever fire breaks in the complex.
Afolabi who was speaking after a fire drill exercise at the complex said the fire drill was done to imbibe alertness in the mind of the people at the complex.
“What we have done is to enable us know the escape route should there be fire incident, for them to know what to do during the time of emergency.
He however warned the workers not to be lackadaisical in their approach to responding to fire alert.
“When there is fire alert, people should be proactive because it is smoke that kill and not the fire itself, when one is over powered by the smoke, that is the end that is why we advice people to leave the building immediately.
The fire service boss however said that the department didn’t inform the workers in the complex because they want to test their alertness to danger signals.
He however allayed the fear of workers not to believe the alarm when next it happened, “it is not their job and I believed that in the next one or two days, they will forget the drill and when next there is alarm they will respond with alertness.”
Also speaking to newsmen, the Port Manager, Mallam Nasir Muhammed said the exercise is part of routine exercise that the complex does to keep employees abreast of possible circumstance.
“We never know when the unexpected will arise so people must always be at alert, they must not be caught off guard because fire doesn’t give notice whenever it will occur.
“The drill is to let people know where to go when there is fire incident in the complex and what to do,” he said.
