Director of the Rivers State Fire Service, Mr John Chukwumati has commended Governor Siminalayi Fubara over rehabilitation and remodeling of fire stations across the state which has brought them to international standard.
The Director made the commendation while speaking to newsmen in his office in Port Harcourt, the state capital shortly after the governor’s commissioning of the newly remodeled headquarters of the Service on Tuesday.
He said, “what happened today in my presence gives me great joy. I never expected that such a thing will happen in my presence when I’m about to leave the service . . . It’s a thing of joy that it’s happening in my presence after a number of years.”
Explaining the functions of the service, Mr Chukwumati said, “from December 2024, the State Fire Service received 60 fire calls from different parts of the state. 15 incidences were under control before arrival of the fire service, ten were false calls and the remaining ones were actual calls. But the good news is that there were no casualties and property worth millions of Naira were also saved.”
Mr Chukwumati, who lamented that members of the public see the fire service as a toothless dog that can’t bite appealed that, “so, when they see firemen they should take them as their brothers and assist us to achieve our goal. Destroying government properties or beat firemen can’t solve the issue . . . Let them see us the way they see themselves. We don’t carry guns.”
Earlier, Gov Fubara who was accompanied to the commissioning ceremony of the remodeled Fire Service headquarters at Boro Park, along Aba road with former Governor Peter Odili stated that he was fulfilled that the project was accomplished within the period and has even started yielding tremendous results, referring to the tanker incident at Elelenwo, a suburb of the state capital in which the state fire service intervened promptly to avert dangerous fire incident.
“In our efforts to mitigate fire disasters and other emergencies in Rivers State, we commissioned the remodeled Headquarters of the Rivers State Fire Service Station today,” the governor stated, adding that: “this underscores our determination to protect the lives and properties of Rivers people, which is the underlying purpose of governance and people-centered leadership.”
