Get Guardian on GoogleThe Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has planned to launch a number of Emergency Communications Centres (ECC) across the country.
The move, which is in line with global practices, is part of its mandate to “promote and enhance public safety through the use of a particular number, which shall be designated as the Universal Safety and Emergency Assistance Number for telephone services generally.”
The NCC, which announced this yesterday, said the centres would be launched in various states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to allow Nigerians access help from any response agency such as the police, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Fire and Ambulance Services by simply dialing a toll free number 112 from any network.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the establishment of the National Emergency Communications Agency (NECA) to set up an emergency communications system for Nigeria. Members were drawn from the Ministry of Communications, NCC, telecoms network operators, security agencies, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and other relevant agencies for the adoption of a three-digit emergency number, 112.
Each state was requested to allocate a suitable piece of land, as its counterpart contribution for the establishment of the ECC in the state, while NCC was to build, equip and operate the centres for some years before handing over to the states.
These centres were specially designed to answer all 112 emergency calls and direct each call to the appropriate response agency closest to the caller, thereby serving as a communication link between public response agencies and members of the public.
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