In recent years, Nigeria has witnessed several plane crashes and in most cases, the authorities have been caught unawares, with no emergency services in place. To avert future such incidences, Lagos State and federal emergency services conducted a mock crash yesterday making local residents, who feared it was a real accident go into panic.
As residents saw a plane plunge into the Lagos Lagoon, there was pandemonium as they thought the crash was real, with many of them run towards the aircraft in a bid to save trapped victims. Unfortunately, the government did not inform the community before the exercise, so the incidence of a Bristow helicopter with 12 persons on board, crashing in the area on August 12, last year in which six people died was still fresh on local minds.
Local resident Bola Oluwadare, said: “I was dressing up around 11.30am when I heard people shouting that plane had crashed again. I ran out to see what was happening and it was after the emergency agencies arrived that we knew it was an exercise.”
Shop owner Tajudeen Olagunju, added: “I thought it was a repeat of the August 15 incident and so did most of us. I think the agencies did not inform us so that it would look real.”
It was gathered that the exercise was coordinated by the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) in collaboration with the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (Lasema) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, among others. Nema spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye, said the agencies responded 15 minutes after a distress call, adding that the exercise enabled the emergency agencies to know their strength in managing disasters.
Mr Farinloye added: “The exercise was to determine our level of preparedness in disaster management and the carcass of a plane was dropped into the Lagoon at about 11.30am. Five helicopters of the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Air Force and Bristow were deployed within 15 minutes after the alert.
"Two ships from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and the Nigerian Navy, two doctors and 30 nurses were also on the ground and 30 local divers were first to respond. We assumed people on board were foreigners and the Nigerian Immigration Service was there to check their nationalities to know whether some of them were of questionable characters."
Lasema general manager Michael Akindele, said the exercise would also assist in areas such as coordination, response time, capacity building and the use of equipment and personnel during emergencies. Other agencies involved in the exercise include the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Lagos State Ambulance Service and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority.
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