The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), responsible for coordinating emergencies and disasters in the state, has attended 7,662 incidents over 63 months.
   
A breakdown of the figures, released yesterday by Nosa Okunbor, the Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the agency, showed that LASEMA attended 126 incidents across the state in September 2024. 
   
This compares to 141 in January, 156 in February, 148 in March, 132 in April, 147 in May, 126 in June, 123 in July, and 121 in August.
 
 These figures show 1,220 incidents attended to by the agency in 2024, bringing the total to 7,662 incidents handled by LASEMA between June 1, 2019 and September 30, 2024.
   
An analysis of the 126 emergency incidents attended to in September 2024 revealed that road accidents ranked highest, with 52 vehicular incidents. This was followed by 23 incidents categorised as ‘others’ in second place. In third place were 20 incidents involving trucks/tankers, including 18 accidents and two broken-down trucks. 
   
Medical incidents came fourth, with 16 cases, while fire disasters, comprising 12 fire outbreaks and one burnt vehicle incident, ranked fifth with 13 incidents. Two building collapses placed this category in sixth.
   
The local council emergency trends revealed that, in September, Alimosho Local Council ranked highest among the 20 local governments in Lagos State, with 18 of the 126 incidents. Ikeja Local Council ranked second with 16 incidents, Kosofe Local Council ranked third with 14 incidents, and Eti-Osa Local Council was fourth with 13 incidents. Ojo, Oshodi-Isolo, Mushin, and Somolu councils all recorded seven incidents each, placing them fifth, while Surulere Local Council recorded six, ranking sixth.
   
Lagos Island and Apapa local councils recorded five incidents each, placing them seventh. Lagos Mainland and Ajeromi-Ifelodun councils recorded four incidents each, ranking eighth. Ikorodu, Epe, and Ibeju-Lekki councils recorded three incidents each, placing them ninth.    
   
Interventions outside Lagos’ boundaries recorded two incidents, while Ifako-Ijaiye and Badagry councils each recorded one incident, placing them tenth. However, Amuwo Odofin and Agege councils recorded no incidents during the period under review.
 
So far, in 2024, LASEMA has attended 1,220 incidents from January 1 to September 30, 2024.

An evaluation of the 2024 monthly emergency trends revealed that the highest number of incidents in a month was recorded in February, with 156 incidents. This was followed by 148 incidents in March and 147 in May, while the lowest number of incidents, 121, was recorded in August 2024.

An analysis of the 1,220 incidents attended to this year, according to the categorisation of incidents, showed that the truck/tanker category ranked highest, with 389 incidents in the last nine months. This number includes 282 truck accidents, seven fallen containers, 102 broken-down trucks, three stuck trucks, and 15 fallen trucks/tankers.
   
The road accidents category ranked second with 304 incidents, consisting of 284 vehicle accidents, 18 breakdowns, and two others. The fire disaster category ranked third with 211 incidents, which comprised 195 fire outbreaks, six tanker/truck fires, and 10 involving cars or Bus Rapid Transits (BRTs). The medical category ranked fourth, with 188 incidents, consisting of seven dead bodies, three suicides, and 178 others.
   
The ‘other events’ category ranked fifth with 79 various events, including two demolitions, one assault, and one powerline incident, totalling 83 incidents. The building collapse category, which included 26 collapses, four partial collapses, one impending collapse, and one other incident, ranked sixth, while the explosion category, comprising eight gas explosions, ranked seventh.
   
The marine category, consisting of two flood incidents and three boat capsizes, ranked eighth. The spillage/leakage category, comprising four incidents — one gas, one diesel, one pipeline, and one gas tanker spill — ranked ninth, while the air/train accident category recorded two incidents this year.
   
In terms of local councils, data revealed that Alimosho Local Council, with the largest landmass and dense population, recorded the highest number of incidents in 2024, with 191 out of 1,220 incidents. Ikeja followed with 131 incidents, and Lagos Island recorded 100 incidents, while Badagry Local Council recorded the lowest, with just three emergency incidents.