The Federal Fire Service-Controller General, Ibrahim Liman, has expressed sadness over the tanker fire at Ochanja Market, Onitsha, Anambra State, on Wednesday, in which many lives were lost and lots of properties destroyed.

Liman explained that the men of the FFS were prevented from accessing the scene of the fire by a mob, who he said also attacked the firefighters.

The controller1 in a statement by the FFS spokesman, Ugo Huan, in Abuja on Thursday, stated that the firemen at Asaba, Delta State, left for the market immediately they received directives from the Abuja control room, but were stuck in heavy traffic at the Niger Bridge.

He said, “The Federal Fire Service received a call about the fire outbreak at around 2:00 p.m. The control room at the headquarters in Abuja immediately turned out the nearest Federal Fire Service station at Asaba, Delta State, to attend to the fire.

“Our men immediately headed to the scene, but it was not possible to contend with the heavy traffic at the Niger Bridge and behaviour of a mob who pelted them with stones. Thus, it was not possible for the firefighters to get to the scene and fight the fire in such a hostile environment.”

The CG emphasized that the FFS was committed to ensuring the safety of lives and property, noting that it had distributed new fire trucks to the 12 service zones across the country.

He added, “With the procurement of new state-of-the-art firefighting trucks distributed to the 12 zones of the service across the nation, the FFS is always ready to respond to fire outbreaks and other emergencies across the nation.

“It is worthy to note that similar situations in recent past in Sokoto, Uyo, Minna, Ibadan, Osun and Lagos were prevented from escalating to a major disaster by the fire service.”

He said the support and cooperation of Nigerians were needed by the FFS in saving lives and property during fire outbreaks.