The Lagos State government sealed over 840 event centres and social facilities in the last one year for various safety violations and non-compliance with extant laws.

Gbenga Oyerinde, the Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, gave the figures on Monday at a ministerial news conference to commemorate one year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office.

Mr Oyerinde said the facilities shut included event centres, clubs, lounges, hotels, and construction sites.

“About 7,819 facilities were inspected to ensure safety; 5,220 were issued fire safety compliance certificates.

“We’ve sealed 840 event centres and social facilities for safety violations and non-compliance with extant laws,” Mr Oyerinde said.

The commissioner said the ministry was working in line with Mr Sanwo-Olu’s THEMES Plus Developmental Agenda to mitigate risks and protect the lives and property of government and citizens.

He added that the ministry had also, through its environmental safety, carried out at least 365 advocacy initiatives.

“Fire safety officers from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) successfully rescued 376 victims, preserving property estimated to be worth N152.22 billion.

“The ministry regrettably recorded 82 casualties and loss of property worth N25.37 billion,” he said.

The commissioner noted that additional fire stations were built in Ibeju-Lekki and Ifako-Ijaiye, among other locations across the state.

The commissioner stated that three new fire stations were soon to be completed in Ijegun-Egba, Satellite Town, and Ijede and that additional ones would be built in Ifako-Ijaiye and Ibeju-Lekki.

“Key statistics from the year’s emergency calls revealed 2,537 incidents, including 1,627 fire calls, 191 rescue calls, 93 salvage calls, and four explosions, alongside 607 false alarms,” he said.

Also, during the year under review, the commissioner said firefighters’ welfare received a boost, with special allowances for uniform maintenance, shift allowances, hazard allowance, and provision of personal protective equipment.

Mr Oyerinde added that capacity development had also been prioritised through foreign and local training and retraining programmes to ensure readiness for emerging trends to mitigate fire incidents in the state.

“Between January 2023 and March 2024, LASEMA responded to 1,906 incidents, comprising 1,461 incidents in 2023 and 445 incidents in the first quarter of 2024,” the commissioner said.

Mr Oyerinde said that to ensure safety in state-owned schools, Mr Sanwo-Olu approved the engagement, deployment, and payment of allowances to 1,356 Nigerian legionnaires, including Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps personnel.

The commissioner noted that it collaborated with the Ministry of the Environment to improve the state of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) temporary orientation camp (Youth Hostel) at Iyana-Ipaja.

Oyerinde also highlighted the implementation of electronic clearance to reduce paperwork and the stress of manually sorting NYSC clearance forms.

(NAN)