GOVERNOR BABATUNDE FASHOLA

Pranksters Jam Lagos S.O.S Lines, 1.8m Fake Calls Made.

The move by the Lagos State Government to police the state is being threatened as over 1.8 million fake security calls were recorded by the Lagos Command Centre in two months, with Governor Babatunde Fashola worried over the rising prank calls.
Fashola, who confirmed this while commissioning the Lagos Command and Security Centre, Alausa in Ikeja, Lagos, said between October and November 2011 alone, 1.8 million fake security calls were put through to the 767 SOS (Save Our Souls) free toll line by mischievous Lagosians.
He said when the security operatives responded to the calls, they found out that they were fake and wasted their efforts, lamenting that such a situation was uncalled for and that government was now ready to take the bull by the horns and punish those engaging in such unpatriotic acts.
“In October 2011, out of 2,776,036 calls, 683,802 were fake emergency calls. The remainder were largely requests for services such as leaking pipes, potholes etc. which should have been directed to the relevant ministries, departments and agencies rather than to emergency services.
“In November, the number of fake calls increased to 1,131,545 out of a total of 4,228,995 calls. The figure keeps growing.
“Whilst the call centre operators are doing their best to answer as many calls as possible, the fact is that in a state that is home to 18 million people, it is practically impossible to attend to all emergency calls with the added burden of fake ones,” he lamented.
“The implication is that help may be slow in coming to someone who genuinely needs it; perhaps even ourselves. While I appeal for restraint and a sense of good citizenship, let me also advise that all calls are recorded, and in time we may decide to enforce the law against fake callers as a deterrent.
“We have already instituted a bill to the state House of Assembly to give us the power to sanction as it is done in other parts of the country.
“Parents are particularly enjoined to educate their children, as young people constitute the highest number of offenders in this regard. We should all remember that emergencies are no respecter of persons,” he added.
Fashola stated that since the free toll line was instituted, calls through the free line had steadily increased from 417,000 calls in 2008 to approximately 32 million calls recorded at the end of 2011.
“Over the same period, just over 62,000 incidents that were actual emergencies were escalated to the various Lagos State emergency support agencies. The bulk of over 31 million calls were unnecessary or test calls that did not require any action from emergency services.
“In a population of over 18 million people, 62,000 emergencies may seem a good index; but we must do more through agencies like the Safety Commission, to reduce the number of emergencies,” he said.
In addition to prompt response to emergencies, Fashola said another positive outcome of the Command Centre had been the collation of useful data that had been of tremendous benefit to government’s developmental programmes.
He stated that the Command Centre was able to break down the data collected into the number of cases per month by local government and by type of emergency, adding that cases were categorised by medical emergencies, motor accidents, burglaries, traffic robberies, car thefts, vehicle fire outbreaks, building fire outbreaks, civil disturbances, collapsed buildings, abandoned cars, suspicious activity and kidnaps/missing persons.
“This data is compiled on a monthly basis and provides the opportunity to study trends and deploy emergency services to the areas where they are needed most. No human endeavour will thrive where there is insecurity,” the governor said.