On Wednesday, one Uzuokwu Solomon would be charged by the Lagos State Government with crimes involving placing hoax calls to emergency responders.
This was confirmed in a statement released on Tuesday night by Ololade Agboola, the deputy director of public affairs for the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service.
Ololade claimed that the crime was penalized in accordance with the 2013 Command and Control Center Law and the Lagos State Fire Service Law.
The statement claims that 18-year-old Solomon called the fire department’s emergency line on Friday, April 14, 2023, at 5:35 p.m. from Harmony Estate in the Ajah region of the state and reported a fire emergency inside the estate, causing emergency procedures to be activated and ultimately resulting in the dispatch of the fire trucks from Lekki Phase II Fire service station.
It read in part, “On arrival, it was discovered that there was no fire incident in the estate. Because of the frequency of such calls in the past, the Estate security helped in the investigation which led to the arrest of the notorious false caller.
“Consequently, the culprit who had been arrested is scheduled to be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction at Ogba Magistrate on the 19th of April, 2023 by 9.00am.
“Speaking with Journalists, The Director Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Mrs Margaret Adeseye expressed her delight in the arrest of the culprit while reiterating the stand of the State government on malicious false calls which is punishable under the Lagos State laws. She believes that the arrest and consequent arraignment will serve as a deterrent for other misguided citizens who are in the habit of making false calls and misleading emergency responders.”
Ololade continued, “False calls have skyrocketed in the last six months.”
