Lagos Records 126 Disasters In September, Says LASEMA
. Alimosho, Ikeja, Kosofe Leads Tragic Incidents
By Frederick
The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, the agency saddled with the overall responsibility of coordinating emergencies/disasters in the State attended a total of 126 incidents across the state in the month of September 2024, compared to 141 in January, 156 in February, 148 in March, 132 April, 147 in May, 126 in June, 123 incidents in July and 121 in August, totalling 1,220 incidents attended so far by the Agency in Y2024 and a grand total of 7,662 incidents attended by LASEMA between 1st June 2019 and 30th September, 2024.
Analysis of the 126 emergency incidents attended in the month of September 2024 by the Agency reveals that Road Accident category rank highest with a record of 52 vehicular incidents, followed by 23 others in second place, with 20 incidents in the Truck/Tanker category comprising of 18 Accidents and 2 Broken Down Trucks in third place, 16 Medical Incidents in fourth place, 13 Fire Disaster incidents which comprises of 12 Fire Outbreaks and 1 Burnt Vehicle incident in fifth place, and 2 Building Collapse in the sixth place.
According to a statement made available to Slye News by the Head, Public Affairs Unit, LASEMA, Nosa Okunbor, the Local Government Emergency Trends reveals that in the month of September, of the 20 Local Governments in Lagos State, Alimosho LGA ranked highest with 18 out of the 126 incidents recorded in the State during this period, followed by Ikeja LGA which recorded 16 incidents at second place, Kosofe LGA recorded 14 incidents at third place, Eti-Osa LGA recorded 13 incidents in fourth place, while Ojo, Oshodi-Isolo, Mushin, and Shomolu recorded 7 incidents each at the fifth place, just as Surulere LGA recorded 6 incidents in the sixth place.
“Lagos Island and Apapa LGAs recorded 5 incidents each in seventh place, while Lagos Mainland and Ajeromi-Ifelodun LGAs both recorded 4 incidents each to occupy the eight position, Ikorodu, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki LGAs recorded 3 incidents each at the ninth position, with Outside Lagos boundary interventions recording 2 incidents, while Ifako-Ijaiye and Badagry Local Government Areas both recorded 1 incident each at the tenth position, however, Amuwo Odofin and Agege Local Government Areas recorded no incidents during the period under review.
“So far in Y2024, the Agency has attended to a total of 1,220 incidents from 1st January to 30th September, 2024. Evaluation of the Y2024 Monthly Emergency Trends reveals that the highest number of incident in a month was recorded in February when the Agency attended to 156 incidents, followed by 148 incidents in March, and 147 incidents in May, while the lowest number of incidents was recorded in the month of August, 2024, when the Agency attended to 121 incidents.
“Analysis of the 1,220 incidents attended so far this year according to categorisation of incidents, available records show that the Truck/Tanker category ranks highest with 389 incidents in the last nine months. This number is made up of 282 Truck Accidents, 7 Fallen Containers, 102 Broken Down Trucks, 3 Stuck Trucks and 15 Fallen Truck/Tankers.
“The Road Accidents category ranks second highest with 304 incidents which comprises of 284 Vehicle Accidents, 18 Breakdowns, and 2 others, while the Fire Disaster category ranks third with 211 incidents which comprises of 195 Fire Outbreaks, 6 Tanker/Truck Fires and 10 Cars/BRTs, the Medical category ranks fourth with 188 incidents that comprises of 7 Dead Bodies, 3 Suicides and 178 others.
“Other events category rank fifth with 79 various events, 2 demolitions, 1 Assault and 1 Powerline incidents each totalling 83 incidents, while Building Collapse category that comprises of 26 collapses, 4 Partial Collapses, 1 Impending Collapse, and 1 other incident rank sixth, while the Explosion category which comprises of 8 Gas Explosions rank seventh.
“The Marine category made up of 2 Flood incidents and 3 Boat Capsize rank eighth, the Spillage/Leakage category made up of 4 incidents which comprises of 1 Gas, Diesel, Pipeline and Gas Tanker spills rank ninth, and the Air/Train Accident category recorded 2 incidents so far in the year.
“On it’s part, Data of Emergencies in Local Government reveals that Alimosho LGA with the largest landmass and dense population records the highest number of incidents so far in 2024 with 191 out of the 1,220 incidents, followed by 131 incidents attended in Ikeja and 100 incidents in Lagos Island, while, Badagry Local Government Area recorded the lowest with 3 emergency incidents.
“Yearly Emergency Trends in the last six years of Governor Babajide Olushola Sanwo-Olu led administration shows that LASEMA has attended to a total of 7,662 incidents in the last six years. This comprises of 513 incidents between 1st June to 31st December, 2019, and 1,043 from 1st January to 31st December 2020, then 1,743 incidents were recorded in 2021, followed by 1,682 incidents in 2022, and 1,461 incidents were recorded in 2023 while 1,220 incidents has been recorded so far between 1st January and 30th September, 2024.
“The Yearly Emergency Trends Data reveals that emergency incidents attained it’s peak in Y2021 with 1,743 incidents, dropped to 1,682 incidents in 2022, then 1,461 incidents in 2023 with more decline as Mr. Governor’s administration continues to equip the Agency to meet present day challenges in emergency/disaster management, with incessant trainings and skills acquisition, cutting edge technology that is successfully moving Lagos State away from emergency response, to Disaster Risk Reduction, in line with international best practices,” he stated.
